In The Ages Past
by A Game of Fate
Summary: Ages ago, man was full of dark. When one man stripped the darkness from humanity, he did so at great cost. Now, he awakens, only to find a world he doesn't recognize, populated by monsters born of the dark. At least his skill set is still useful, though. Company's pretty good too, even if they did break down the wall of his tomb. DEAD, ADOPTED BY NEPHILIM NIGHTS
1. Chapter 1

'_Why, by Gwyn's Lightning, did I think this was a good idea_?' thought Ignis to himself as he burned... and burned... and burned all the more. One wonders what brilliant idea Ignis had, to have an end result of a nigh eternal immolation. It is a truly remarkable, selfless idea; an idea not at all influenced by his increasing fatigue at repeated the Gods damned cycle of fire, blood, ash, and death. Recognizing that he was losing himself, and that no one else would, could, or should be expected to step up to the altar as the next sacrifice, he decided to do something drastic. Something that would alter what was made law at the beginning of time itself. Something decreed by the gods who bore the strength of Lords within their souls, by the Gods that overthrew the reign of terror that was the Age of Ancients, slaughtering all (but two) of the Everlasting Dragons in order to usher in the Age of Fire.

Ignis, recognizing his own inability to continue being the backbone of an inherently flawed world, took it upon himself to fix the world before he invariably was broken by it. In order to do this, he would have to take Humanity, a race literally born from the dark, and strip them of the dark, replacing it with whatever he could. In hindsight, it was both brilliant and stupid beyond measure.  
Brilliant, for it would allow him to let the flames finally flicker and die without fear of man losing itself to its dark, as Manus and the entirety of Oolacile did.  
Stupid, because the Dark is a living, violent parasite that would never willingly be separated from humanity.  
Stupid beyond measure, because the Dark, once separated from the species it had for so long been a part of, would do everything within its power to kill those that forsook it, whether or not they know of its forsaking.

However, this all pales in comparison to the truest problem he faces in the thrice damned Kiln. His truest plight is that, unlike before, he must remain lucid, conscious of how the world shifts as he rips it apart in order to rebuild it in a better condition. Before, he would simply burn for a few seconds before he felt the fires pulse out, allowing him to sleep, and reawaken in the Asylum, reminiscent of his first awakening there. Now, he must remain strong enough to guide a living, uncontrollable power; a power that could quite easily destroy all he is trying to accomplish. Now, he must guide the flames as they refine the world, and humanity with it, in the most painful of ways. Now, he must remain awake, lucid, and focused, for what could take minutes or centuries.

After what seems -and could very well have been- an eternity, his job is finished. The First Flame has refined the world, refined humanity. The world is now as whole as he can make it, and humanity is suffused with the powers of the Lord Souls. While their strength will not match that of the gods for a great while yet, if ever, they will be more than capable of defending themselves from the remnants of the ages past.

And with his job done, with humans finally able to live in the dark without fear of succumbing to it, he allows the pain of millennia spent immolating to come crashing down on him. Utterly spent, delirious with pain, and half blind by the gods damned ash in his empty eye sockets (he never understood how he retained his sight), he barely manages to think, 'That glow looks rather like a soul,' before he collapses into the ash, right into the warm, flame-like glow so reminiscent of a soul. As he slowly realizes that the orange glow looks like a soul because it **_is_** a soul, it is already well on its way to being absorbed by him.

His final waking moments are spent directing the energy of the soul to heal him. Upon doing this, he releases his desperately tenuous grip on the waking world. For the first time in possibly thousands of years, he sleeps.

Time passes as the hero who saved man from a fate worse than any death slumbers within the kiln. Nations rise, and as man expands, a golden era begins. Sciences are taken far beyond what they were believed to be limited to, as arts of the soul and mind take to new depths and heights. During this time, the first grimm is spotted. Treated as an amusing nuisance, it is ignored.

As grimm sightings become more common, people think less of the threat of the grimm. As time goes on, ever forward, the grimm prepare. They wait. They scout. They LEARN. And at the apex of the golden era, they strike. Used to a peace earned by the actions of those long passed, they are utterly unprepared for the grimm, and they pay dearly for it. Each dusk brings another hellish night of fighting; each dawn brings news of the dead; each day brings humanity closer to the death they so narrowly avoided so long ago. As time passes, they relearn to fight, using strength of arms forged from the plows of the fields and strength of souls forged from the desire to live. It is through this struggle they learn more of the grimm they so readily ignored before.

They learn that whatever god designed the grimm did not deign to give them souls. The grimm, beings of pure dark, had no need of food, water, air, or sleep. The grimm were not alive, and were not capable of withstanding the power of a soul. And the very world they reside had a soul, one channeled through the very bones and blood of the earth. Once mankind discovered this, the fight turned. While they would never win (for who can kill that which was never alive to begin with?), the soul crystals they discovered very quickly became a fundamental part of the defense of the few remaining bastions of man.

When the grimm realized that they were losing far more than they were gaining, they left. No more were they bathing in the blood of hundreds. No more were they slaughtering the weak as the defenders remained hard pressed to fight the teeming horde. Now, they were fighting on lesser footing, as even the weakest of their prey could slay dozens with a single spell, so long as they had sufficient crystals. And with this knowledge, they retreat, hoping that their prey's advantage quickly runs dry.

As time passes, the last bastions expand fully into kingdoms. Mankind, while few in number, were resourceful, and they expanded; growing in strength and number, they slowly expanded. Two hundred thousand years have passed since Ignis finished his immolation. Now, he must awaken, and awaken he will, within a world he scarcely recognizes.


	2. Chapter 2

After an indiscernible (to Ignis himself, at least) amount of time, he awoke with a bang.

A bang presumably related to the wall of the Kiln exploding inward, and the shrill voice that accompanied the rubble and disturbed ash. "Ruby you dunce, what were you thinking?! That explosion could have caused a cave in!" shrieked a very irate, currently disembodied voice. Why was this voice disembodied? Because after however long he had slept, Ignis was far too confused by this rather abrupt wake up call to do anything but wonder, 'What?'

"Sorry Weiss! I must have miscalculated the amount of Burn Dust in the charge. It won't happen again!" replied a rather innocent sounding (if appropriately apologetic) voice, which probably belonged to 'Ruby'. "Just, don't let it happen again. Dying by cave in is not a swift or painless death, and I would very much prefer not to suffer in such a way," the first voice, presumably Weiss. "In any case," she continued, "We would do well to give the science team an update on the opening before clearing this area out, in case there is something we can't handle."  
"Already on it. Hey Yang?... Yeah, we're fine. I might have used too much burn dust (_There it is again. Just what is this dust?_) in our charge. Listen, the science team was right, the area we detonated leads into a rather large cavern... Yeah, we'll be careful, we're just going to confirm that there aren't any grimm (_grimm?_) in here before we let the civilians in. Wouldn't want them to get eaten... Yeah, bye."

Already, Ignis's mind is racing like a great arrow loosed by the Hawkeye himself. '_Dust? Grimm? By Gwynevere's tits, what are they talking about?_'

Just then, the previously disembodied voices wonder into his field of view. They are rather small; barely reaching his elbow if he were to stand upright, although what is more striking is their appearance. One is clad in what may be white, if his eyes (or eye sockets, considering his eyes were ripped out some time before he awoke for the first time in the asylum) aren't deceiving him. With hair that matches her raiment, and a hand on what looks to be a rapier attached to her waist, she looks rather out of place in the Kiln turned tomb. Her companion is much more readily blending in with her surroundings, however. Wearing dark clothing, he genuinely couldn't make out what she was wearing in the dark of the extinguished kiln. With both hands on a strange contraption in her hands, he wondered if she was armed, and with what (if she were). The skin on both glowed with an ethereal light, reminiscent of the ghosts of New Londo to the point Ignis worried that they were in fact dead. With the white(?) one's eyes glowing a sky blue, and the darker clad one's eyes glowing a silver that put Anor Londo's finest knights to shame, their sudden appearance was quite the startling sight. With their appearance, the one clad in dark calls out, "Hello? Any grimm out there?"

Now, Ignis has always thought of himself as a nice guy. And really, he is. Always willing to help someone in need with JOLLY CO-OPERATION, always willing to give a weapon to those who need it, he is quite the nice fellow. And he recognizes that what he is about to do is a tad bit mean. But this was so perfectly set up, it would be a crime to let this go to waste.  
The moment she finished her question, while the white one is drinking out of some kind of flask, he replies, "I've no idea what a grimm is, but I'm pretty sure it's just the three of us in here."

The reaction to this reply far and away exceeded what he had hoped would happen, in all the right ways.

The white one's spit take is absolutely beautiful. Like a massive torrent, what smells like water spews from her mouth and nose in a deluge rather similar to what he imagined the draining of New Londo looked like from the Valley of the Drakes, accompanied by a litany of choked curses and coughing. The darker clad one goes wide eyed, with a look that seems to be joyous etched onto her features. "Weiss, we found a ghost! Oh this is so cool!" exclaims Ruby, happiness evident in her voice. For her part, Weiss seems to attempt to reprimand her friend, failing due to the fact that she was still coughing and cursing. Without missing a beat, Ruby continues, "Hey Mr. Ghost! Can you come out here? We've been escorting some archaeologists on a dig and they would LOVE to talk with you."

'Nothing better to do,' thinks Ignis to himself. "Not really a ghost, but sure, just let me find my weapons," he calls out. Sitting up, he very quickly notices several things. First, he is absolutely caked in ash, and what little of his armor is visible is black, similar to the knights that accompanied Gwyn to the Kiln. Second, his old grass crest shield is gone, having rusted and rotted away into nothing over the course of however long he had slept in this glorified tomb. Third, his sword was changed by the flames. A full foot and a half longer, it still looked like the same jagged, vaguely curved (now ultra) greatsword made of obsidian dragonbone taken from Kalameet itself. Pulling himself to his feet for the first time in millennia, he grabs his sword, which pulses in his hand as if it had missed him. Gazing around, he notices that nothing he owns is strewn about on the floor. Checking his handy pouch/bottomless sack, he notices he has everything he had before facing Gwyn for the final time.

With one last check, he turns to face the rather small girls that discovered him. Holding his left hand up, he brings forth his pyromantic flame and quickly summons a flame to light the general area. With the light, he is finally able to get a good look at them. Both seem to be wearing dresses of some kind, with the white wearing one wearing some kind of small coat over her shoulders. The red and black one (for he can finally tell what colors she was wearing) had a bright red cloak on, which seemed to have a hood that she left off, exposing her oddly dark red hair.

"Well then," says Ignis, "Shall we be off?"


	3. Chapter 3

Showers, Ignis had decided while drying himself through a minor alteration of Iron Flesh, were easily the best thing that had happened to him all day. Granted, the only other things that happened to him were a explosion, swearing, making the snow ball looking girl spit water out of her nose, and then standing for the first time in tens of thousands of years, but the point stands; showers are glorious. Feeling the ash (_and blood, and dried chaos lava, and more ash..._) wash away was easily one of the most pleasant sensations he could recall feeling. In, the only real problem with the shower was the fact that the spout only went up to about his shoulder. This was, however, easily remedied by kneeling.

Once completely dry (and extinguished, so as to not worry anyone by being on fire), he grabbed the clothes laid out for him by the archaeologists put them on... or at least, attempted to. While the 'pants' as Ruby called them fit (even if they barely went past his knees), the 'shirt' was completely and utterly unable to stretch enough to fit him, evident by the giant tear in it, which widened with every movement. With a muffled, "Damn," Ignis tore off the remains of the shirt and walked out of the shower area in order to grab his sword find the 'doctor' that wanted to ask him some questions.

Finding his sword exactly where he left it, he turns and walks to where he was told the curious old man would be; inside a well lit tent. "I'm done with the shower. You wanted to ask me some questions?"

"Yes, I did," the doctor says, looking up. "How did you... by god, what happened to you to give you such a litany of scars, young man?"

'Oh boy, here we go,' thinks Ignis as he says, "Each scar tells a different story. The circular ones are from when I was eaten by the Gaping Dragon. The one under my sternum with all of the lighting scars was earned in a fight with Dragonslayer Ornstein, who was capable of channeling lightning through the spear he impaled me on, easily the most painful thing ever to happen to me. The mess on my throat was caused by several thieves, who tend to favor slashing the throat. The claws mark on my face was given to me by drakes. The rest, I don't remember; there are so many that they've blurred together."

"You don't remember what took your eyes?"

"No, to my knowledge they were taken before I was ever aware. That reminds me; I know I have been rather imposing with my need for clothes, but is there something I could get that would conceal my eyes without taking my sight?"

"You mean you can see?"

"Yes, I can. In fact, my first inclination that I didn't have eyes was when I asked a friend what color my eyes were. He told me I didn't have eyes at all, then asked me how I avoided walking into things. He seemed rather surprised by the fact that I wasn't blind; the face he made was quite funny. Rather similar to a fish out of water, if I do say so myself."

"I see... In any case, these are called sunglasses. They should do nicely. Back to my questions, how did you end up in that cave? By my estimates, it had been sealed shut for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years."

"That cave is, or rather was, the Kiln of the First Flame. Dating back to the dawn of time itself, it is where the gods found the power to slay the everlasting dragons, I think. Either way, it was through this First Flame the the Age of Ancients ended, and the Age of Fire began. With the dragons slain, the gods ruled with a benevolent fist..."

[_**One heaping helping of exposition later**_]

"... Recognizing that I couldn't undergo the cycle anymore without losing myself to madness, I did the only thing I could; I ripped the darkness out of humanity and used the entirety of the power of the first flame to infuse them with the power needed to survive. I wasn't pleasant. Unlike the other times I had gone to burn in the kiln, I couldn't sit back, relax, and sleep. I had to consciously direct the power of the flame for the entirety of the time it took to save humanity from the darkness that constituted it, and the entire time I was burning in order to keep the flame from extinguishing. I'm unsure how long I burned; time always was distorted, almost unflowing, due to the unnatural extension of the age. All I know is that I burned for far longer than I expected to, and collapsed upon completion of my goal. I then slept for who knows how long. Then I woke up with a bang, accompanied by swearing, and here we are."

The doctor (who never gave his name, Ignis noticed) looked like he had aged 20 years over the course of the telling of the admittedly unbelievable story. "If it weren't for the fact that the only entrance to the cave is the one Ms. Ruby opened herself, I would either call you a liar or see about having you committed to an asylum. As it is, I have no theories that even remotely make sense that could be more likely. If you ever settle down, you should consider writing a book. With the amount of lunacy that you've been through, you could easily make a pretty penny off of making a fiction based on your life... unlife? Whatever. The point is, that story is completely insane, and you could easily make some money off of a book about the lunacy you just described."

"I'll take that as a compliment, doctor. Speaking of Ruby, where is she?"

At this, the doctor gains a bit of a mischievous light in his eyes. "One of the branches broke open into a cave that had several grimm. She and her team went to kill them. If I may ask, why? Taken a liking to her?"

To his credit, Ignis remains unfazed. "In a way; she has a cheerful and happy disposition. It's rather refreshing."

"I see. In any case, there weren't that many grimm. She should be back with her team soon."


	4. Chapter 4

After a few more minutes of small talk, explanations (on things like the grimm and faunus _(because seriously, what I would have given to have four ears back in the tomb of the giants)_), and teasing (which was ignored with either practiced ease or complete obliviousness), Ignis decided to go check and equip his armor. 'So, I'll need a new surcoat. Perhaps I can get my own crest upon it? It will be worth looking into, at the least,' he thought to himself. 'In any case, the state of the armor itself is surprising. I hadn't expected it to so completely stain the armor such a color. Regardless, the metal itself is as good as it ever was, if not better. I'll not likely need to replace it ever again...'

Ceasing his ever silent musing, he quickly donned his mail and chest plate before moving on to the rest of the armor. Opting to leave his helmet off, he placed it in his sack before pulling out his bottomless box and retrieving the first greatshield he got his hand on. With a flourish appreciated by all one person in attendance (himself included in that great number), he procured the Giant's Shield from the box of infinite space and headaches, as he so affectionately called it. Deciding to help himself for once, he pulls out his smith box as well. '_Let's see... well, it seems the marcasite can be removed. This means that... am I able to enchant each piece as well... I am indeed._' Thusly inspired, he begins to mix a paint out of a small bit of blood, water, souls energy, and repair powder in order to paint an enchantment on both pieces of the shield. After a painstaking while, he completes the enchantments, dries them with a carefully placed bit of pyromantic flames, then places the marcasite back on the bronze housing. Stepping back, he happily examines the newly enchanted shield. Issuing forth a slight green glow, the enchantment itself is surprisingly well done, allowing Ignis to feel the energizing effects of the magical stamina regeneration.

Deciding to wander about the camp, he eventually finds himself near the doctor (who had revealed his name was Tero Brunajn) again. Judging from the sounds of conversation, it becomes apparent that the two girls had returned. '_Good, with them here I hopefully get more information on these "grimm". While I appreciate Tero telling me what he knew, he didn't seem to know much. Perhaps the dedicated grimm slayers will know more..._'

As he approaches, he begins to overhear snippets of their hopefully not private conversation, "... so wait, you actually believe that? There are alternative explanations as to how he got in there; a hole in the ceiling, or a tunnel we missed," says Weiss.

"Which I would normally believe, had my team not done an extensive search of the area, Ms. Schnee. The only entrance to that cavern that was more than four inches in diameter was the one you made, and the dating on the ashes that covered his armor says they'd been caked on for almost two hundred thousand years. Whatever he is, he isn't human, and his story is the only one that makes sense in context."

As he enters the tent, Ignis sees Weiss begin to drink from her canteen as Ruby says, "But still, being undead?"

Once again, Ignis sees a chance and takes it, saying, "Well, yeah. How else do you think I survived getting to the kiln, let alone rekindling the flame?"

And once again, the reaction is glorious. To her credit, Weiss manages to turn her head away from the papers on the table before spit taking. Unfortunately, this results in her spit taking all over Ignis himself. Ruby herself starts violently with a muffled shriek before trying to help Weiss with her coughing. Tero himself, having seen Ignis enter, just sighs before saying, "You really should stop that, you know."

"I'll try, but no promises, Tero. That's quite fun to do," responds Ignis with a laugh. "Having said that, I still have some questions concerning these 'grimm' things. Mostly curiosity about their origins and physiology."

Upon hearing that, Tero gives Ignis a strange look, saying, "I understand the curiosity towards their origins, as I myself share that curiosity. But I must ask, why physiology?"

"I'll be brutally honest here, Tero; I need something to do for the rest of however long I'll be around, or whatever I am, and I have few skills that don't involving killing powerful enemies that shrug off pain. These 'grimm' seem to be a threat to humanity-"

"And Faunus-kind too!" interjects Ruby.

"Same thing," Ignis says without missing a beat. "Anyway, these 'grimm' are a big enough threat that they're training children to fight them. I'm rather good at killing things. The way I see it, this kills two drakes with one arrow; I'm not bored to hollowing and the whole world benefits."

Tero gives a dry laugh. "No rest for the weary, eh? Alright then. I have an old friend at Beacon, a history professor. He should be able to get you an apprenticeship, if you can prove you're good enough for his time and that you can learn from history. Just follow team RWBY when the excavation is done-"

"Actually, doctor, the excavation might not happen as planned," interrupted an unknown voice.

"We were exploring more of the tunnel when we found this massive dude clothed in these old red robes with a strange metal mask. He refused to let us past, and attacked when we tried anyway. He didn't try to kill us, but he was skilled enough to prevent both of us from getting past anyway," said another.

Turning, Ignis spotted two more girls. While both were taller than Ruby and Weiss, it wasn't by much; the taller of them, a blonde with odd purple eyes quite similar to Solaire's, didn't reach his shoulder, managing to make it about half way between his shoulder and his elbow. The other was slightly shorter, and had hair the same color as Snuggly's feathers with amber eyes, reminiscent of Alvina.

What interested Ignis most, however, was the mention of red robes and the mask. Reaching into his bottomless box, he pulls out the crimson set along with the tin banishment catalyst and asks, "Red robes and strange mask? Are they similar to these? For that matter, did he have a wickedly sharp blade about a foot long and a catalyst like this?"

Both of the girls seem surprised, and the one with raven hair says, "Yes, that's quite exact. You know him?"

With a laugh, Ignis says, "Yes, I do. His name is Ingward, and he is one of the sealers of New Londo. And you're right, this excavation is over, Tero."

For his part, Tero looks aggravated, saying, "Is there a reason why you so readily would call off this excavation?"

With titanite in his voice, Ignis responds, "Yes. As good a group as you lot are, I'll kill you all before letting history repeat itself here. Ingward was specifically charged with preventing the Darkwraiths and the Abyss from spreading. If he has stopped you, you damn well listen, because he would only do so if the alternative was the release of the Darkwraiths, and as bad as you say the grimm are, they're worse in every way."

The five of them seem stunned, and Tero says, "You would so readily kill us? Why?"

"The darkwraiths are the enemies of everything that has a soul, and if humanity is in as precarious a position as you make it seem, their intervention would serve as the punctuation to humanity's existence. Those who do not listen to history are doomed to repeat it, and history is quite clear here; should the darkwraiths be freed, humanity dies, and I'm not going to let that happen. Start packing up. In the mean time, I'm going to go see Ingward about sealing the Abyss." With that, Ignis turned and left, expanding his senses. Upon sensing Ingward's soul, he set off, barely stopping to grab his bottomless box.


	5. Chapter 5

The reunion was bittersweet. While Ingward seemed surprised and happy that Ignis was still alive, he refused to abandon his post, insisting to be sealed along with the Abyss to prevent the Darkwraiths from getting close enough to the seal (a strategic cave in) to begin digging out. Knowing that this was the last time Ignis would ever see the old man again, he made copies of several sorceries, many of them either Oolacilian or crystalline in nature, and gave them to Ingward to help him in his eternal vigil, while Ingward made a scroll that taught how to break curses. After this, he completely sealed the tunnel, and used chaos pyromancy to make the cave-in look like a natural ending to the cave. At the origin of the former tunnel, he placed a sign, that said, "**DEAD END, DANGER OF CAVE IN. GO NO FURTHER."**

On his way back, he ran into (and almost over) the blonde girl and her team. "Ow, watch i- oh hey, it's you. Why were you so adamant about preventing us from going past whats-his-face?"

Ignis sighs, before saying with a tired voice, "His name is Ingward, and like I said before, I refused to let history repeat itself. I have traversed the Abyss sixteen times; eight in Oolacile, and eight in New Londo. Eight times, I saw the power Manus exerted over the Abyss used to corrupt the people of Oolacile and corrode its streets in a ruinous attempt to retrieve a broken pendant. Eight times I walked the streets of New Londo, walking past piles of bodies taller than I was as the ghosts attacked everything they saw. Eight times I fought Artorias, a demigod known far and wide for his indomitable spirit and iron will, who had been broken and corrupted by the darkness. Eight times I fought in New Londo against Darkwraiths that stole the very life, soul, and humanity from whatever they could get their dark hands on, myself included. Eight times I fought against Manus, the Furtive Pigmy, Progenitor of Man and Father of the Abyss, whose power was rivaled only by the other bearers of the Lord Souls and the Everlasting Dragons themselves. Eight times I fought the Four Kings of New Londo, who were empowered by the bequeathed Lord Soul Shard, as they used the foul art of Lifedrain in order to rip the very essence of humanity out of me as I fought. I'm sorry, but I would readily kill if it meant that the Abyss wouldn't spread, for a few deaths is preferable to mankind's extinction."

"Would it really have been that bad?" Ruby asks.

"If anything, it would have been worse. Back then, humanity was wide spread, and the wilds were filled with great wolves, fang-tooth boars, wandering knights of great skill, animated stone guardians, wandering giants, and many other things that naturally hampered the spread of the abyss. Now? Now, humanity is concentrated into four major cities, as Tero told me, and the wilds are full of soulless creatures, which would likely ally with the darkwraiths. They would be an unstoppable wave that would destroy mankind. That is why I'm so adamant about ending this excavation; every time the Abyss has spread, entire cities died, and if it were to happen again, death would occur on a level as cataclysmic as it is unprecedented."

"Speaking of the excavation," interjects Weiss, "The CEO of Kingsman Enterprises, who commissioned the dig, agreed to call it off on the condition that YOU speak to him. And considering he is notorious for being paranoid, secretive, and secluded beyond measure, I'm wondering why. So, why is he so interested in you?"

"You mean besides being an immeasurably ancient being that holds the secrets to what the world was like before the First Flame was extinguished? I don't even know the guy's name, how would I know?"

"His name is Mr. Frampt, and you can't think of any reasons past that?" Weiss responds, aggravation evident in her voice.

Ignis doesn't answer. He just stares at Weiss, like she casually admitted to being a crossbreed like Priscilla. After a bit, he finds his voice and says, "Did you say Frampt?"

She responds with an even more aggravated, "YES! Do you have any idea how many people have personally spoken to him? Less than five! No one even knows whether Frampt is his first or last name! Not even my father can get a conversation with him, what makes you so special?"

Ignis doesn't respond. He just laughs and says, "When can we talk? We have some catching up to do."

At this point, Weiss is a bit past aggravated, if the choking noises she's making are anything to go by. In her stead, Ruby says, "Dr. Brunajn will call once you get to him. Yang?" the blonde one grunts. "Could you two take him to see the doctor? I need to make sure Weiss doesn't have an aneurism."

Yang says, "Ok sis (_What. They look nothing alike_). Come on big guy, we're going to go see the doctor. You coming, Blake?" The ravenette responds with a "Yes".

As they were walking, Blake says, "You said 'we have some catching up to do'. If you don't mind my asking, how do you know him?"

Ignis laughs and says, "Alvina always said that curiosity killed the cat, Blake. Then again, Logan always said that as well, with the addition of 'but satisfaction brought it back'. If I'm right, I knew this 'guy' before I was sealed in the kiln. And as old as I am, he was considered ancient beyond measure when I was young. Why?"

"Weiss wasn't kidding about his paranoia. He is infamous for it, and if what she said about her father not being able to get a conversation with him is true, then his infamy may very well be understating it. Kalt Schnee is one of the most powerful men on Remnant, and blowing him off is dangerous," Blake responds.

After another minute of walking, they find Tero in the remains of the deconstructed base camp. "Ah, you're here? Good. I'm calling now." With that, he starts the call and hands the strange glass-like rectangle over, then pantomimes holding it to his ear. Ignis complies, and hears a voice ask, "Is this Ignis?"

"It is. Who is this?"

"Mr. Frampt's butler. Before he speaks with you, he needs to know that you're the real deal, so to speak. What are the names of the Four Lords?"

"Gravelord Nito, the First of the Dead. Chaos Sorceress Quela, the Witch of Izalith. God-chief Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight. The last one was simply known as the Furtive Pigmy, who supposedly hasn't been seen since the war against the Everlasting Dragons."

"Who were the Four Knights of Gwyn?"

"Dragonslayer Ornstein, Abysswalker Artorias, Lordsblade Ciaran, and Hawkeye Gough."

"Who were Gwyn's children?"

"The firstborn had his name struck from the records for his affinity to humanity and his loss of the annals, although I'm pretty sure we traveled together. He called himself Solaire of Astora at the time. Gwynevere was his secondborn, and was the goddess of sunlight, healing, and fertility. Last I heard, she left Anor Londo after Gwyn went to the Kiln, marrying Flann, a foreign god associated with fire. The lastborn, Gwyndolin, was raised as a girl due to his affinity to moonlight. He attacked me when I went to pay respects to Gwyn at his grave, and I killed him in self defense."

A voice, one that he hadn't heard in millennia, chose this moment to speak up. "Chosen Undead, it ha-"

Ignis, in a cheerful voice, cut in, "Cut the dragonshit you overgrown garden snake. You knew."

"I did. Would you have gone to the flames if you had known?" Frampt retorts.

"I did know. I also know why Gwyn feared the dark, and what happened to the Pigmy. Which is why I stripped humanity of the Dark, and used Light and Life to replace it. The flame has been extinguished for tens of thousands of years, Frampt. It burnt out when I finished."

Frampt hesitates, then asks, "...Did it do anything to change you?"

At this, Ignis makes an unhappy noise, like a cross between a grunt and a huff, and says, "It did. My soul has been sealed. While I can still manipulate it, it feels lethargic and sluggish, as if it were asleep. On the positive side, I'm no longer undead, so stop calling me 'Chosen Undead'. I'll go by Ignis, like I have been for the past forever. Speaking of the past forever, while I'm talking to someone old enough to know, what happened to Solaire, Quelana, Quelaan, and Priscilla?"

With a laugh, Frampt explained, "You were right about Solaire; he was the God of War. After the stunt you pulled, he found it within himself to seek Quelana out and court her, much to her secret pleasure. They ended up marrying, and had several children. Quelaan, unfortunately, didn't survive; none of the firekeepers did. Priscilla barely survived; the flames were not kind to her, and ripped her apart. Her human side became a woman said to have startling beauty, who later married and had several children. Her draconian side has since merged with Kalameet's progeny. Ingward-"

"Still guards the Abyss, I know. That's why I didn't ask. He is actually why I had them end the excavation. You saw the destruction of Oolacile and New Londo, and know full well what will happen if the Darkwraiths get loose once more. I've already sealed the tunnel leading to the Abyss, and Ingward opted to remain within the seal in order to prevent them from digging out. I gave him several sorceries to help him with that, including crystalline and Oolacilian sorceries."

At the mention of crystalline sorceries, Frampt growls, and asks, "Was it necessary to perpetuate more of those thrice damned magics? You know full well the atrocities that birthed them."

With a tired sigh, Ignis responds, "I do. As I see it, this way some good comes from Seath's madness. At least this way, those he sacrificed have some honor in death that was denied them in life. In any case, he needed the help. Was that it?"

"In essence. It was nice hearing from you again, old friend. We should talk again some time." With that, the rectangle gave a click, and went silent. After examining the strange contraption and finding that the screen had darkened, he returned it to Tero, saying, "I think the conversation ended. Not too sure, I don't know how that thing works. So, what now?"

Tero responds, "Now, we wait. I've already called team RWBY's bullhead, and Doctor Oobleck. Once it arrives, just get on the bullhead; it'll take you to Beacon, the academy they attend. Oobleck should be waiting for you, and will tell you more about recent history. A warning, though; He will have questions by the bucket-load. Ah, there's the bullhead now."


	6. Chapter 6

After a fair bit of 'persuading', team RWBY managed to convince Ignis to get on the bullhead. Initially scared of falling out, he hangs on to the built in bench with all his strength, easily rending it like it were paper. After some time (which felt longer than his time in the Kiln, Ignis decided), the flying metal abomination landed. Immediately stepping off (and extricating his hands from the ruined metal of the bench he had crushed in his grip), he noticed five people on the outcropping they had landed on. The first one was a tall, thin man with green hair and nearly opaque glasses striding toward him. The other four were bunched together, and were all differing heights. The tallest, a brown haired man wearing an odd form fitting black suit under plate armor, was talking with a bluish-gray haired man wearing dark grey leather armor over dark grey and black clothes. The other two, one with dull brown hair wearing a lighter form of brown plate armor than the first, the other wearing cloth armor and a spiked pauldron with a light green mohawk, were openly staring at Ignis, the smaller green one saying, "Fucking monster, what the fuck."

Studiously ingoring the two's reaction, Ignis greets the green haired man. "Doctor Oobleck I presume? I'm Ignis. Tero said he called ahead?"

The man rapidly replied, "I am, and he did. Doctor Brunajn said that you were found in a cavern that had been sealed for hundreds of thousands of years. He also said you didn't know what faunus, grimm, aura, and dust were. Is this true?"

"It is. To my knowledge, all of those originated during or after my time in the kiln."

At this, Oobleck gave a wry grin. "Then we have our work cut out for us. We'll ha-"

At this, they were cut off by the tall one of the group of four cut him off, shouting, "HEY DOVE, RUSSEL! YOU TWO DONE STARING AND FANTASIZING SO WE CAN FUCKING GO YET?" Hearing the man hollering at them rouses them, and both look away, muttering about monsters and gods under their breath as they make their way over the to the bullhead.

"So, any idea what that was about?" Ignis asks, amusement evident in his voice.

Oobleck's response is oddly serious. "The both of them have sensory abilities as a part of their semblance. If I recall correctly, Mr. Russel Thrush is able to accurately gauge someone's power and put a number to it, so long as their power is relatively close to his own. The further the difference, the less accurate the number. Mr. Dove Bronzewing's ability is stranger; his abilities seem to involve 'reading' the past and abilities of whoever he sees. These abilities then attribute several titles to the person based off of their past and abilities. For example, I believe he gave Ms. Rose two titles before he ever saw her abilities; the Scattering Wind, for her semblance, and the Scarlet Harvest*, for her prowess with the scythe and her cloak. That being said, their reactions are strange; never before have I seen them so stunned by what they've sensed. Any idea why they would have such a reaction to you?"

Ignis just laughs before saying, "I can't say anything about Thrush, but if what you said about Bronzewing is true, he likely got an eyeful of some abilities that haven't been seen in this world for thousands of years. And that's not mentioning my past; I admit that if I hadn't done it myself, I wouldn't have believed it could happen, and many of the greater enemies I faced were divine or demonic in nature. If his ability gives me titles based on my deeds, the titles are likely grandiose beyond reason. Back on topic, what were you saying before the mace wielder called his friends?"

At this, Oobleck quickly shakes his head, as if to clear it, before saying, "Ah yes. As I was saying, we'll have you sit in on a history, grimm studies, and aura arts class during the school week. The rest of the day should be spent in self study; this is a combat school, and one cannot spend all of their life in combat. You will need skills that we do not teach, although the library should have enough books to let you build up several marketable skills. On the weekends, you and I will spar before discussing ancient and recent history. Before we begin, however, we need to get you a scroll for personal use so you can undergo initiation."

Ignis gives a look of confusion, before saying, "Would I be right in assuming you don't mean paper scrolls? Because I have plenty of blank scrolls if that isn't the case."

For his part, Oobleck looks amused. "You would be right. I'm talking about an electronic scroll, like this one," he says, before handing Ignis another strange glass rectangle.

Seeing the e-scroll, Ignis excitedly says, "Ah, so that is what these are called. I've 'used' one before, in the loosest meaning of the term possible, in order to speak to an old friend. When and how will I be getting one?"

"You will be getting a scroll on you're way to the room you will be given during your apprenticeship. As for how, Beacon will be providing you one. Any Lien earned on jobs will have a deduction taken in order to pay for the scroll. Once it is paid off, you will get full funds earned from missions." Having said this, Oobleck begins to turn for the door. "Now, we should get you to Professor Ozpin. He'll have already gotten you a room-"

"That won't be necessary Professor Oobleck, Professor Ozpin said he'll be staying in the empty room next to ours," interjects Ruby.

Oobleck, utterly unfazed by the fact that Ruby had sprinted up (followed by a flurry of rose petals and a tail wind rivaling a dragonslayer greatarrow), says, "I wasn't aware you had a vacant room next door."

"We originally didn't, but team violet transferred to Haven. It's empty now."

"I see. Anyways, Mr. Ignis needs a scroll, so would you take him to the academy store? They should have one he can use. After that, would you show him around, then take him to his room? I need to get back to grading the essays I just gave the first years."

Ruby says, "Of course, sir. Come on, gigantor!"

With a laugh, Ignis responds, "I'm following, kiddo."

With a pout, Ruby says, "I'm not a kid! I'm sixteen! I am legally an adult!**"

Of course, this inspires laughter in Ignis. Regaining his breath, he says, "And I'm hundreds of thousands of years old. Your point?"

At this, Ruby's pout intensifies as she mutters under her breath about 'crotchety, unaging, giant geezers' and not being a kid.

As they're walking, Ruby glances over and asks, "Doesn't wearing those sunglasses so much bother your eyes? The only time I've seen you without them on is when you were wearing that helmet. Speaking of which, what did you do with it, anyways?"

Ignis says with evident amusement, "My helmet is in my pouch, which also has a bottomless enchantment on it. As for these sunglasses, Tero gave them to me to conceal my eyes."

Ever curious, Ruby asks, "But why conceal them?"

"Well, they look rather unpleasant."

At that, Ruby scoffs, "Oh come on, they can't be that bad. Lemme see!"

At this, Ignis gives her a strange look, before saying, "Are you sure? I don't jest when I say that they are unpleasant to look upon."

Again, Ruby scoffs, saying, "I can take it. I couldn't be a Huntress otherwise!"

With a lighthearted chuckle, Ignis says, "Fine, fine. You win." With that, he removes the sunglasses, baring his eye sockets to the world. "This is what my 'eyes' look like."

Ruby looks up, then starts to pale, before saying, "... I'm sorry, I had no idea you were blind, I just-"

Ignis's laughter interrupts her. "I'm sorry, but when did I ever say anything about being blind? I understand that the sockets are empty, but that has never affected my sight." Putting his sunglasses back on, he continues, "I keep them covered because they tend to disturb those that aren't used to grievous, disfiguring wounds. Regardless, now you know. I don't mind if you tell the rest of your team, if you can get them to keep it secret; I find that enemies, once they see my 'eyes', tend to make the same assumption, allowing me to punish them for it. In any case, I think we're here."

[LINE BREAK]

A/N guys, the asterisk are generally to denote something I feel needed to be elaborated on.

*Based off of the title for the time displaced Ruby in Remnant's Reclaimer by Hysterical Clerical Hijinks. I highly recommend reading it, as it is a damn good work.

**I'm taking a bit of a liberty here, what with humanity being on the brink of extinction, that the age of consent and adulthood would be younger than on Earth. That being said, this takes place in their second year, which explains why they were able to take a mission like excavation guarding without an accompanying huntsman or huntress.


	7. Chapter 7

As it turned out, getting the Scroll was easy. Unfortunately, a problem quickly arose when it came to operating the Scroll. Specifically, the problem came from the fact that Ignis needed aura to turn it on and charge it.

"What do you mean you never unlocked your aura?" Asked a bewildered Ruby.

"I mean exactly what I said. If I have an aura, I have never used it! Is it so hard to believe that?" Came the aggravated and equally bewildered response from Ignis.

"Then how did Doctor Brunajn convince Doctor Oobleck to take you on as an apprentice? Aura is one of the biggest parts of a Hunter's life! It helps prevent damage, helps us heal, allows us to use our strongest abilities! How did you survive?" Ruby asked, confusion at his answer readily evident.

At that, Ignis laughed. "Maybe I'm just that bad ass, Ruby. Again, you forget: I was undead. I didn't survive. Death followed me every step of the way, often coming for me as readily as it came for my enemies. The only reason I'm here is because I was too stubborn to stay dead."

At this, Ruby looks shocked, asking, "So wait, you weren't kidding? I though you were just trying to get a reaction out of Weiss. Wait, doesn't this make you immortal?"

Again, Ignis laughs before saying, "I was serious. Weiss's reactions were simply an added bonus. As for being immortal, the answer is no. While I was undead, I couldn't stay dead. Now? I'm no longer undead, and so my next death will be my last, thank the Flames."

Hearing this, Ruby begins to look upset. "So you don't care if you die?"

"I never said that. My deaths were always unpleasant, and I have no wish of repeating them. No, it's more like I've made peace with my death, and am thankful that I won't have to suffer any more agonizing deaths only to get up and suffer them again. Regardless, we're way off topic. How do you propose I use this infernal device without aura? Think we can charge it with someone else's aura?"

"No, Scrolls have Aura locks. Once keyed to an aura, they can only be charged by said person's aura, and anything that uses the scroll as identification, like the lock on your room door and weapons locker, would be keyed to their aura as well. No, we need to unlock your aura. I think Goodwitch has a free period now..." Looking thoughtful, Ruby perks up and declares, "That's what we'll do! Let's go find Professor Goodwitch!"

As they walk, Ruby points out spots of interest, saying, "This is the library. It'll have any books you need to do school work. Blake and Weiss like hanging out here... This is the gym. It has weights, punching bags, a ring you can spar in, and a simulation room you can use to train. Yang's usually here if she isn't in our room or the cafeteria... This is the courtyard. I usually come here to study if the weather is nice enough... This is the armory. It has everything you need to fix your weapons and armor, and you can buy dust here to replenish you're supply. Over there is the locker room, where we keep weapons when we don't use them. They'll get you a locker-"

"That I will never use."

"How do you plan to carry your weapons everywhere? They're rather big."

"Same as how I have been, in the pouch," Ignis says as he holds up his bag of holding.

Ruby looks skeptical at this, saying, "You mean you managed to fit a massive, seven and a half foot long sword in that bag?"

Laughing at her skepticism, he says, "And my Giant Shield," before pulling both out.

For her part, she only gawks for a few seconds before sighing and says, "Ok, just put them away. We need to find Goodwitch, and-"

"I'm right here, Ms. Rose," says a stern voice.

Ruby squeaks, apparently surprised that Goodwitch snuck up on her, before saying, "Hi, Professor Goodwitch. We ah, we need help... that is to say, Ignis needs help, with his ah, with aura related matters, and we, well, he wa-"

Ignis, seeing that Ruby wasn't really saying anything coherent enough to get a response, interjects, "What she means to say is that I need to have my aura unlocked in order to use my scroll. Since you seem to be the leading teacher on Aura related manners, I decided to enlist you help in unlocking it. Can you help?"

Goodwitch gives a look of surprise, saying, "I can, but I'm not sure I should. Unlocking aura is a rather personal thing, and is mostly done by family. Aura is a literal manifestation of one's soul, and asking another to unlock yours is literally asking them to temporarily link their soul with yours. Do you not have any family that could do this for you?"

Ignis gives a dry laugh before saying, "If I ever had any family, they are long dead. Is there another way?"

At this, Goodwitch replies, "None that are expedient. The shortest amount of time we're looking at for unlocking your own aura is six months, and that is if you are a prodigy beyond all belief. As it is, I can help. Follow me to my office, please."

As they walk, Goodwitch begins questioning Ignis, starting with, "How exactly did you get into a combat school, let alone Beacon, with out aura?"

"You know Doctor Oobleck? I'm apprenticing under him until I have a firmer grasp on modern history, technology, and other skills I need. Aura never came up as something I needed, and to my knowledge remained undiscovered in the lands I hail from," Ignis responds.

"So you're his new apprentice? I must admit, when he said you didn't know what aura was, I thought that you simply called it something else, similar to how some of the old villages call it chi. To think that you didn't ever have it unlocked... how skilled are you with that sword of yours?"

"Skilled enough to have earned it. It is called the Obsidian Greatsword, and it was forged from a special bone from the tail of the Black Dragon Kalameet, the alleged last of the Everlasting Dragons. It was said that he was so powerful, 'not even the gods of Anor Londo dared provoke his ire'. It was one of my greatest and most terrible battles. I couldn't get him to land long enough to cause any damage, so I had to enlist the aid of Hawkeye Gough, so named for his skill with the greatbow. Once he crippled Kalameet's wing, I was able to fight him. After seventeen hours of intense combat, I tricked him into attacking a wall. While he tried to remove the granite from his teeth, I circled around and with one great swing, removed his tail. After that, the fight was more even, as I could attack his hind legs with near impunity when he used his breath attack. Another ten hours of intense fighting followed, after which I slew him. Taking his Immortal Scales and his eye, I returned to the old Hawkeye in order to tell him of my victory. Shocked and happy that I was alive and that Kalameet was finally dead, he gave me his Greatbow. After I found a smithy, I forged the tail bone into the sword you saw."

With a bemused expression, Goodwitch says, "You could have just said that you were skilled. Regardless, we're here. Now, I'll need you to remove your glasses-"

"Why?" Ignis interjects.

At that, Goodwitch makes a face. "Because I need to look you in the eyes in order to do this. Now remove them, I have a class soon," she replies, agitation evident in her voice.

"What if I don't have eyes?" Ignis asks with a strained voice.

Upon hearing that, Goodwitch takes a hard look at him before saying, "Then this just got a lot harder. Fortunately, you do have eyes; you have far too much spatial awareness to be blind. Right?"

With a sigh, Ignis removes his sunglasses and looks Goodwitch right in the face before deadpanning, "Wrong. While you are correct in that I can see easily, I haven't had eyes for as long as I can remember. How much harder did this become?"

With a distinctly uncomfortable expression on her face, she replies, "Very. Without eyes, I can't unlock your aura, as I don't have a good enough connection to you to connect my aura to yours. Can you think of anyone close to you that could do it?"

Ignis thinks for a bit, before posing his own question. "How close must this person be?"

"Generally, the closer someone is to you the better. While a relatively new friend can do it in theory, the connection would be difficult to maintain and the flow between auras would be slow, like syrup. The closer the linked people are, the easier it becomes to maintain the connection, and the easier the flow is. Is there anyone that you would consider a friend available?"

At this, Ignis says, "The only person I can think of that both qualifies and is available is Ruby." Turning to her, he asks, "Would you mind helping out?"

Hearing this, Ruby blushes slightly while tapping her index fingers together, looking away. "I'm willing to try, but I never learned how. I'm not sure I'd get it right..."

"Remember the lesson from three weeks ago?" Goodwitch asks her.

She looks up, and asks, "You mean the Aura injection lesson? I remember, why?"

Goodwitch replies, "That is also how you unlock aura. You need to use more aura, but both work based on the same concept."

At that, she says, "Oooooh, I see now. Yeah, I can try. Is there anything I should know about the process?"

Goodwitch says, "You will likely get snippets of his memories, an-"

"WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA, wait, come again? Can you elaborate on the whole 'snippets of memories' thing?"

If Goodwitch is annoyed by Ignis's reaction, she does well to hide it as she answers. "Certain memories will bleed through in both ways. She'll experience them as if she were there in your stead, and yo-"

Again, Ignis interrupts, saying, "And you are absolutely sure, and swear by Gwyn's Lightning, that there is no other way to unlock my aura in any reasonable amount of time?"

This time, agitation is evident on her face as she answers, "Yes, I am sure, and I swear. This is the only way to unlock your aura in less than six months at the shortest. Care to explain why you seem so adamant about her not even viewing the slightest glimpse of your memories?"

With a pained expression, Ignis answers. "My extended unlife has been called many things. Kind and pleasant are two words that will never be used to describe it. I'll be blunt; my existence has been filled with misery, pain, and death, and I would rather her not have to experience any of it."

Before he can say anything more, Ruby herself says, "I'll do it. I can handle it, Ignis. I couldn't be a huntress if I couldn't do this. Give me a chance."

Ignis just gives her a long, pain filled stare, before giving in. With a sigh betraying his immeasurably great age, he says, "Fine. Ruby, I'm sorry in advance, and I'll shield you wherever I can, but this is going to be painful. What do we do, Goodwitch?"

"Just sit within arms reach of her, she needs to have physical contact for the duration of the process," she responds.

Hearing this, Ignis moves over and sits next to Ruby, who places her hand on his shoulder. Feeling a strange pressure on his soul that he sees as Ruby, he opens himself enough to let her in, while remaining closed off enough to stop the flood of memories as best he can, hoping that any that slip through are pleasant.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: BEGIN**_

_**This chapter will have differing points of view, unlike previous chapters. This does not, in any way, reflect the permanent point of view, which will remain Ignis's third person limited unless it is explicitly announced before-hand.**_

_**A/N: END**_

Viewing another person's soul, Ruby decided, was a strange experience. Granted, she had never seen someone else's soul before today, but the difference between her soul and Ignis's soul was staggering.

First off, it was huge. Being a huntress in training and the daughter of two powerful hunters, she had been training her soul for years, and it showed; her soul was far larger than the average sixteen year old's. Seeing her rather large soul so easily dwarfed was as humbling an experience as it was telling. She didn't deny that Ignis was old, ancient even, but this was so far beyond what she had been expecting that she wouldn't believe it were the proof not so blatantly there.

Second, it was strange, almost disparate. At one moment, it would be hot like lava, only to change, becoming colder than ice. Another, it would feel warm and full of life, like when she hugged her father or sister, only to be followed by an unnatural chill, like death itself was there and personally visiting her. The one thing that was constant was the light. No matter what changed, the soul remained lit. It would dim, sure, but the dullest it would become was similar to embers waiting to become a blazing inferno.

Third, it was powerful. While Ignis's aura remained locked, his soul positively thrumming with more energy than she had ever heard of in a soul before.

Reaching out, she put her aura into it, and-

_The monster was taunting him, he was sure of it. The acid it spewed had eaten through his armor, and while it hurt terribly, it didn't impede him in the slightest. However, his sword and shield weren't so lucky, both having been rendered useless by the powerful acid. While he could repair them, it would cost a lot of soul energy. Pulling out his broadsword, he turned to look at the beast... only to get a face full of serrated teeth as it grabbed him and tried to devour him. After chewing through his ruined armor and muscles with contemptuous ease, it swallowed his mangled, pain ridden body, fully submerging him in acid. The pain was to great, and he tried to scream, only to realize his mistake as acid rushed over his tongue, down his throat, and into his stomach and lungs. After several minutes, the pain finally became to much, and he died._

With a wordless, unvocalized shriek, she began to pull away. Remembering what she was doing, she stopped herself. 'Come on Ruby, you said you could do this. Prove it!' she thought to herself.

Steeling herself, she dove back in. She made it a fair (if small, considering the sheer size of the soul she had to traverse), way in before she suddenly was buffeted by another memory.

_"I SWEAR BY GWYN'S HOLY LIGHTNING, YOU SILVERY BASTARDS, WHEN I GET TO YOU I WILL BUGGER YOU WITH THIS ARROW!" he shouted, infuriated by the great-arrow that had impaled him to the wall. With a violent, painful jerk, he managed to rip the thing out of the wall. Sure, it hurt, but pain had long since stopped affecting him, for better or worse. "HAHA! SUCK ON THAT YOU SERPENT LICKING-" his tirade was interrupted by another great arrow, this one braining him painfully as blood and grey matter sprayed out across the buttress. Angrily ripping the arrow from his head, he sprinted forward, dodging arrows that moved faster than the sound they made when loosed from the bow. Finally close enough, the silver knight drew its sword and attacked. Parrying it on his grass crest shield, he impaled it with the great arrow he had held onto the whole time. "HA! TAKE THAT YOU WRETCHED LI-" again, he was interrupted by a great arrow, this one tearing through his chest and flinging him over the edge. The impact, while painful, was blessedly short, and he died almost immediately._

While this memory hurt less, the jarring death was highly disorienting. Dazed by the suddenness of it, she didn't have time to notice the third memory, which blindsided her.

_His armor was rent and broken. He had fought hard, but against the Dragonslayer and the currently dead Executioner, he had honestly figured he would die faster. Completely exhausted, out of estus, and with a gaping hole in his shield, he was powerless to defend himself from the next attack. And judging by the fact that Ornstein was channeling lightning through his spear, it was likely going to be a thunderpole. With one final effort, he stood, arms held out as if beckoning an embrace, or questioning. Ornstein didn't disappoint, impaling him right in under the sternum before lifting him up over his head. Coughing, he said, "Just finish it," as blood poured from his mouth. Ornstein complied by discharging the entirety of the pent up lightning into him, the excess lightning lancing out of random areas on his body. The pain was beyond description, and while the pain itself could no longer kill him, the utter ruination the lightning visited upon his nerves could, and did. He was dead before he hit the ground._

Jerking violently, she managed to regain her bearings in time to dodge another memory. Emboldened by her new knowledge of how to dodge the memories that leaked past his shield, Ruby dove further in. In her haste, however, she ended up cornered between three memories. Seeing that one was smaller then the others, she dodged above it, losing the other two while the memory she chose caught her.

_The smell of death was overpowering. The bodies of the dead citizens of New Londo were stacked taller than the Darkwraiths that brought about the circumstances of their demise. The ghosts continued to wail piteously, as if crying out over the injustice of it all would convince time to reverse long enough to let them escape. He pitied them, yes, but couldn't sympathize with them. He had never been touched by a Darkwraith, after all. He was skilled, and the darkwraiths were clumsy due to their time spent in the waters poisoned by the rotting bodies. He knew how they acted, how they fought, how one of them was 'sneaking' up on him from his left with the intent to gut him. As soon as the rhythmic clink altered its pace, he parried to deflect the incoming sword... only to whiff entirely. The darkwraith had feinted. It had feinted, and he fell for it like a gods damned idiot. And if the glowing fist was anything to go by, that darkwraith was going to punish him for his idiotic mistake. He tried to dodge, only to fail as the darkwraith effortlessly shoved its hand through his armor and into his chest. The sensation was abhorrent. A malignant, violating wrongness was suddenly in his chest, holding his soul and humanity in a surprising delicate, if tight grip. Then, with a rip, it was gone. The malignant other was gone. He laughed and reached out to feel his soul... and found it gone as well, along with his humanity. They were gone. Gone. Gone. They were gone. They were-_

With strength that she didn't know she had possessed, Ruby ripped herself from the memory, doing her best to block what she had seen and experienced. Traveling on, she dodged more memories, thankful that they didn't mob her or corner her again.

After an indeterminable amount of time, she reached the center of his soul, and pulsed her aura out, unshackling the massive soul, before re-awaking.

**[LINE BREAK, POV CHANGE]**

The strange pressure of Ruby's aura on Ignis's soul reached its way into the soul after a few minutes. Try as he might, a few memories slipped past his guard, and each one that hit her presence stopped her entirely as she relived it. After another few minutes of her _dodging_ the memories (which Ignis felt was quite impressive, given how fast they hurtled towards her), she reached the center of his soul and pulsed her aura outward. The moment she did that, he felt a massive surge within his soul, as if the shackles he was born wearing on his soul were cast off, allowing it to flourish as it was meant to.

And it was _glorious_. He always had ghost pains and itches from his plethora of deaths. It was just a part of being undead. But when his aura flooded his body, they were burned away, like a morning fog fleeing the rising sun. For the first time since, well, forever, he wasn't feeling some kind of pain or discomfort.

He turned to Ruby, only to see her looking at him with eyes far too glassy to be aware. "Well, that was a thinnng..." she slurred before collapsing into Ignis's arms.


	9. Chapter 9

"Are your sure that she's alright?" Ignis asks Goodwitch (who's first name he still hasn't heard) as they walk to the infirmary, Ruby easily carried in Ignis's arms.

Goodwitch sighs, then answers, "Yes, I'm sure she's fine. I was sure last time, and the time before. She is perfectly alright, just tired. Aura takes more energy to unlock based on the amount of latent energy the soul has, and unlocking yours just exhausted hers. She just needs some rest."

"Then why did you message her team?" Ignis asked, trying not to sound accusatory.

"Standard operating procedure. When a student is checked in to the infirmary, the staff on duty automatically update the team of the student. I simply messaged them to tell them why, because Yang is quite overprotective of her sister and would become upset if she thought Ruby was hurt," came Goodwitch's ever patient response.

"So the staff on duty wouldn't tell them why she was checked in?" Ingnis inquires.

"They usually don't, no... we're here," Goodwitch says before opening the door and leaving, presumably to go to the class she mentioned before.

Ducking in, Ignis sees the resident healer, and calls out, "Healer. What do you want me to do with her?"

The man looks up and corrects him, saying, "I'm no healer, just a nurse. As for her, just set her on the bed and sit down somewhere, Yang is going to want to have a word with you."

Ignis gives a dry laugh before setting her on a nearby bed, saying, "That sounds like a story waiting to be told. Care to tell it?"

The nurse laughs, then says, "Do you know team cardinal?"

At the shake of Ignis's head, he continues, "Well, they used to be major bullies. Nothing was sacred; if they thought they could get a rise out of someone, they would use it as ammunition against them, regardless of whether it was race, grades, religion, faith, strength, so on and so forth. They started to reform a little after their first quarter, when a student they had been bullying saved the team leader's life by engaging in one on one combat with an ursa major, but it wasn't until the third quarter that they really turned around. You see, Ruby had sparred against them and defeated them all through use of her semblance. Later, she used it again and tripped, rolling her ankle and smashing her face into the wall moving at almost a hundred miles an hour. She herself was fine, but the impact bloodied her nose, and between the impact, her ankle, and the previous sparring match, her aura was low enough that it couldn't fix both her ankle and nose. So, she fixed her ankle and came here. We informed her team, as per standard operating procedure, then treated her and let her sleep off the headache and exhaustion. Yang came to check on her and saw Ruby asleep with a bloody nose. She left, and ten minutes later, team cardinal drags themselves in, claiming that Yang beat them half to death while they were messing with someone. They said that she only responded with 'you know damn well why' when they asked her why she beat them. They assumed she was sick of their shit, and stopped bullying. They still mess with people from time to time, but its more banter and light-hearted assholery now, rather than intentional maliciousness."

Ignis laughs, then says, "Ah. I heard from Goodwitch she was overprotective, but still; to beat someone that badly?"

The nurse laughs in return, before saying, "They weren't hurt nearly that badly. They were laying it on thick to get her in trouble. Of course, this is a school that trains warriors. Barring the infliction of injuries that outright cripple, maim, or kill another student, the worst punishment is a detention, and that's if the victim wants them punished. Otherwise, Pyrrha Nikos would have been expelled by now, considering how hard she trains her boyfriend."

"I'm unfamiliar with the name. Is she a slave driver when it comes to training?" Ignis asks, a placid look on his face.

"Not at first, no. Her team leader was just that bad at the time. He improved rapidly, but he had to have checked himself in here more the 30 times in the first month and a half. Now that he can keep up with her, she's pushing herself and dragging him along for ride of his life."

Before he can continue, Yang bursts in, her eyes the color of wine and her hair radiating sunlight of all things. "Ignis, you better not have-"

Before she can get into Ignis's face, the nurse interrupts, "Calm down, firecracker. Ruby's perfectly okay, just exhausted. She helped unlock his aura and passed out from the exertion, she'll be fine when she wakes up."

As Yang begins to calm down (with her eyes returning to the purple color they usually have, Ignis notes), Ignis asks, "I'm sorry, but firecracker? Why that?"

The nurse gives Ignis a look that openly questions his sanity as he replies, "Because she was just radiating fire from her hair, like she always does when she's angry."

Ignis's face expresses confusion, and he states, "But she wasn't radiating fire. It took a similar form, but that was sunlight."

Yang, who had been walking over to grab a chair, stops cold. Rounding on him with red eyes, she says, "Out of every person that has ever seen me do that, I could count the number of people who could tell the difference on one hand, and all of them are family. Care to explain how you know the difference?"

"You mean besides the fact that I was a paladin in the Brotherhood of the Sun and still am a master pyromancer? An old friend of mine, Solaire, was the God of War. You know, the only person besides the Lord of Sunlight himself that could use Sunlight Spears without a talisman? We traveled and fought together for several decades, and he used his abilities a lot. I can tell the difference as easily as I can see."

At that, Yang looks... relieved, oddly enough. Turning back to grab the chair she was moving towards, she says, "Fair enough. Would you two keep that a secret? My family doesn't really like to advertise that we have a direct link to a literal god of war. We already get enough shit from the hippies."

Hearing that, Ignis looks up (or as up as he can without looking having to look down at Yang) and asks, "We'll keep the secret. What's this about hippies?"

Yang sighs before saying, "If you look at the history of every war involving the Kingdom of Vale, you'll quickly find that the most prolific warriors in over two thirds of the wars is either a Xiao Long or ended up marrying a Xiao Long. While that seems like a massive coincidence, the kill counts are generally several times higher than the next highest. Again, that's possibly a coincidence, but a few pacifistic war historians made the connection not long after the great war, and quickly inflamed the rest of the pacifists. While this was several decades ago, it still follows us around, popping up in the most annoying way it can, usually."

Before the conversation can continue, Ruby jolts upward with a shriek, her hand flying up to her heart. She flares her aura, before a look of pure relief and happiness crosses her face. Extinguishing the flare, she lets herself fall backwards, saying, "Oh thank god," before giggling.

Yang, of course, is very much not amused. Turning stiffly towards Ignis, she asks, "Care to explain why my sister just flared her aura immediately after waking up from aura exhaustion, Ignis?"

Ignis, sadness etched across his features, says, "I have an idea, but I very desperately hope I'm wrong. Ruby, in one of the memories that caught you, did you see a massive warrior wearing armor designed to look like a skeleton, with an ornate broadsword in one hand and pure darkness pulsating in the other?"

Noticing them both for the first time, she quickly sits up and assumes a bad poker face before saying, "What? Psh, naw. Of course not. Nope."

Yang, for her part, isn't convinced. "Ruby..."

Ruby looks at them, first at Yang, then at Ignis, then back at Yang, before bursting into tears. "Oh god, it was so horrible Yang, and I can't stop feeling it. Oh god, please, make it stop," she sobs piteously.

Yang, upon seeing the tears, immediately rushes over to her sister, pulling her up into a hug before flaring her aura, saying, "It's alright, I'm here for you Ruby," as soothingly as she can.

After a few minutes, Ruby's sobbing quiets into sniffles and hiccups. Yang, a furious expression on her face, shifts her focus to Ignis. "What the almighty FUCK did you put her through, you bastard?"

Surprising Ignis (and judging from the looks on their faces, Yang and the nurse as well), Ruby jumps to his defense. "Yang, stop. He didn't do anything, I just got caught in a memory he had. It was... it was horrible." Turning to Ignis, she said, "What was that, anyway?"

With a mirthless laugh and unmitigated sorrow marring his scarred features, he said, "I know. I was there for the whole thing, remember?" Addressing them both, he continues, "What I just described was a Darkwraith, former humans who discarded their humanity for demon-hood and the art of Lifedrain. Like its name implies, Lifedrain steals the life and humanity from those who are subjected to it. Unfortunately, I was undead at the time, and didn't have a life to drain. All we undead had was our souls and our humanity."

Hearing this, Yang gives Ignis a confused look. Upon finding the underlying implication, the blood in her face drains as horror etches itself across her features. Glancing at Ruby, who had by this point calmed down, she said, "Y... You mean..."

A look of pain and sorrow on his face, Ignis confirms, "Yes. The memory in question, that she was forced to experience as I had, was of a Darkwraith violently and physically ripping my humanity and my soul out of me."

Yang's face, already pale, starts taking on a green tinge, which had the nurse moving. "I think I'm going to be sick," she says as she begins a cold sweat.

"Here," the nurse says, thrusting an empty bucket to her.

Taking it weakly while unwrapping her arm from around Ruby's shoulder, she says, "Tha-" before getting interrupted by her own stomach deciding that it was tired of being filled with her previous meal. Retching violently, she vomits thrice as Ruby scrambles away before looking up. Still pale, but without the green tint to her features, she says, "I feel a little bit better now. How'd you survive?"

With a humorless laugh, Ignis replies, "I was undead, remember? The only ways to kill an undead are to either cripple its body so thoroughly that it can't use it or cause it enough pain that it involuntarily shuts itself down in order to wait for the pain to go away, which is difficult for any undead. For me, that was functionally impossible."

Setting the bucket aside, Yang says, "Damn, that's messed up. Are you all right, Ruby?"

Ruby, for her part, looks like she ate a lemon. "While I'm probably going to have nightmares about toothy monsters, that Ornstein guy, falling, and the Darkwraith for a while, I should be fine Yang."

Hearing that, Ignis reaches into his pouch. Pulling out what seems to be a simple pendant, he hands it to Ruby, saying, "Here, this may help."

She says, "Okay...?" in a slightly questioning manner as she uncertainly takes it. The effect, however, was nearly immediate, as her face softened. "Oh..."

Yang gives Ignis a confused look. Seeing this, he says, "I originally thought that it was a meaningless trinket that I had in life, as holding it always calmed me, inspiring pleasant memories once I got some. After grabbing it on the bullhead while we headed here, I realized it was enchanted to bring those memories and feelings forth, and I had never noticed. If you're prone to or fear you will have nightmares, try using that. Hopefully, it will help."

Ruby, for her part, seems conflicted. "I appreciate the thought, but are you sure you want to give this to me?"

Waving her concern away, he says, "I'm the cause of your discomfort, and would feel terrible if I didn't do anything to help alleviate it. Besides, I have several others. Keep it."

Yang, in an attempt to lighten the mood (and possibly from a familial need to tease her sister), says, "My my my, exchanging gifts already? Should I be worried, Ruby?"

Ignis laughs awkwardly as Ruby wails, "Yaaaaaaaaaaaang!"

Before either of them can continue, the nurse says, "Okay kids, you two seem to be alright. Having said that, you two are under medical orders to take the rest of the day off and sleep. God knows you need it. As for you. I'd stop the light show. You're wasting aura."

"I'm not sure what you mean, my good man."

At that, the nurse goes over and turns the lights off. The only light source is the window... and the orange, flickering glow from Ignis. Seeing this, Ignis says, "Ah, sorry. I didn't realize I was doing this... erm, how do I stop?"

"Feel your aura. You notice how its flowing through you?"

"Er, sort of."

"Yes or no."

"Yes, I think."

"What exactly do you mean, you think? Be as elaborate as you need to be."

"Well, it's not really flowing through me per se. I sense the aura perfectly fine, but it's more flowing outward. I assume this isn't normal."

"It isn't. Stop the flow."

Ignis says, "Ok..." before forcing the aura to flow inward and through him instead of outward. Almost immediately, he feels his joints pop as the bones begin to grow. Immediately, he stops forcing his aura to flow, sagging in relief as he shrinks back to as normal as being his height can be.

"Yeeeaaah, I don't think that's going to work too well, Nurse," he says. "The last time I knew someone who grew due to his soul, he almost quadrupled in size, and I really don't think being that big would be conducive to, well, the ceiling, my body, the immediate surroundings..."

The nurse's eyes begins twitching, before he sighs and says, "Alright. Fuck, I don't know, I'm paid to set broken bones and watch over dumbass kids, not know what the fuck is going on with your aura. I'm going to call Glynda-"

"Glynda?"

"Goodwitch. As I was saying, I'm going to call her to help figure this out. You two," he says, turning towards Ruby and Yang, "go get some rest. I'll message your teachers-"

"We don't have any classes until the day after next," Yang says.

"Ok, whatever, go sleep. You need it. I'm calling Glynda."


	10. Chapter 10

"Okay, Ignis. This is the combat arena. In it, we hold sparring matches between teams, and occasionally pit a team against grimm here for more advanced training. It should be able to withstand anything you can throw at it," Goodwitch says upon entering the room with him. "Now, since we're going to see what exactly is wrong, if anything, with your aura, we need to do a comprehensive test."

Stepping back, she says, "Please flare your aura."

Nodding, he reaches for his soul, and rouses it. Immediately, the orange, flickering glow became a bright orange-gold inferno, blazing as if he were on fire. Extinguishing the flare, he mutters, "Hmm, that doesn't seem right... I wonder why it's acting like my pyromancy..." before realizing it. His soul merged with his pyromantic flames. "Gods dammit..."

Hearing this, Glynda asks, "Is something the matter?"

"Yes, there is. My soul merged with my pyromantic flames."

At that, a look of confusion crosses Glynda's features. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Unbelievably. The last time someone merged their soul with pyromantic flames... well, the city she was in was from then on referred to as 'Lost Izalith'. No, this is absolutely terrible. Now I need to be far more careful..."

Glynda, for her part, looks unconvinced. "I get the feeling that you're exaggerating greatly. I understand that it may be destructive, but to destroy a city?"

Hearing this, Ignis just stares at her before saying, "Perhaps a demonstration is in order. I am going to throw the weakest fireball I can at that wall. Just in case, be ready to engage in combat."

Glynda gives him a questioning look before asking, "Is there any reason why I should be prepared for combat?"

Ignis gives a dry, humorless laugh before saying, "Izalith was rather easy to find, Goodwitch. You just had to go through the heavily infested Demon Ruins." With that, Ignis throws a small fireball at the wall, feeling his aura drain infinitesimally as it leaves his hand.

The impact was everything he had feared it would be. Upon impact, the wall explodes into lava, coating the floor in the immediate vicinity of the impact zone. From the lava crawled a malformed demon, still covered in the molten stone that constituted the fluids of its birth. With a shriek, it charged, fire pulsing in its good hand as lightning of all things coated the deformed arm, arcing out and into the ground.

As surprising as the lightning was, he didn't let it distract him as he immediately leapt into action. With a snarl, he brought the Giants' greatshield to bear, bashing the demon off of it before bringing his Obsidian blade down, cleaving straight through its shoulder, removing the arm that held raw chaos. It shrieked again, in either pain or fury (Ignis couldn't tell) before slinging its deformed hand towards him, lightning surging from the claws. Blocking again, he ignored the pain caused by the lightning coursing through the bronze part of the shield before smashing the massive shield into its torso, breaking the already crippled arm and collapsing its ribcage. With a disgusting, gurgling rasp, it laid still. After decapitating it for good measure, he looks back to Goodwitch (who was staring at the lava in blatant shock) and says, "You see what I was speaking of? Imagine that, but on a ridiculously larger scale. I need to reteach myself how to use my pyromancies. I'll likely have to reteach myself how to use sorceries as well, and possibly my sunlight based miracles if the lightning that thing was giving off is anything to go by. Learning to use my aura is going to be difficult, because mistakes others can make in a technique without ill effects may very well blow up in our face."

Tearing her gaze from the lava, Glynda looks at him and says, "This... this is... I'm going to make a call. Don't use your aura." With that, she lifts her e-scroll up, taps it a few times, then holds it to her ear. "Hello, Ozpin? Yes, I understand you're in a meeting with Ironwood and the Council, but this is urgent. No, it cannot wait. Oobleck's apprentice and I are in the sparring arena. Yes, we need to talk. Bring Oobleck and two others, this guy is a serious danger (_well gee, make me look good why don't you_). No, he isn't hostile, but his abilities far exceed what we thought, and he doesn't have complete control. No, he isn't berser- no- just get down here!" she says before hanging up.

"Gee, Goodwitch, why don't you just list all of my good qualities while you're at it."

She just sighs before saying, "Don't even start," exasperatedly.

"Ohoho, we've started. 'This guy is a serious danger'? Care to explain how you didn't think that would make him assume I'm hostile? By the gods, I'm not even that dangerous."

Glynda doesn't even dignify that with a verbal response, simply gazing pointedly at the remains of the wall and rapidly cooling lava.

"Okay, not that dangerous to myself or my allies."

At that, Glynda shifts her pointed gaze from the lava to the demon's corpse.

"Okay, fine. But still, you could have worded that better."

"Worded what better?" a voice Ignis hasn't heard before. Glynda turns, relief on her face as she says, "I'm glad you're here. That was fast."

Ignis turns as well, and sees Oobleck and three people he had never met. The one with graying hair and dull silver clothes starts off with placing his foot in his mouth and chewing vigorously by saying, "We're going to need you to disarm immediately."

Ignis, for his part, doesn't mess with the guy like he normally would, saying, "That isn't going to happen."

The man seems taken aback, assumably surprised that someone would stand up to him, before scowling and chewing harder on his foot, saying, "That wasn't a request."

"Nor was it something you can enforce," Ignis quickly disagrees.

Before the vein bulging in the man's head can burst, the one clad in green with silver hair comes to the rescue, saying "Relax, James. I'm sure he doesn't mean any harm and just wants to keep his weapons. Right?"

"That would be correct. I'm sorry, but the only two people I know by name are Oobleck and Goodwitch. If might ask, who are you three?"

At that, the silver haired man smiles, saying, "I am Professor Ozpin, and this is General Ironwood," gesturing to the silver clad man, "and Professor Port," pointing to the short, stocky man in burgundy. "Now, what's this about you being a serious threat?"

With a baleful gaze sent in Glynda's direction, Ignis begins to describe the severity of the situation. "Basically, my soul and my pyromantic flames fused. Normally, this would be a bad thing; souls are chaotic in nature, and infusing soul energy into a pyromantic attack multiplies the power greatly, almost always causing the attack to ascend into a chaos flame. With my aura unlocked however, I'm currently unable to keep my soul energy from the flames when I use it, and while I keep it to a minimum, it's still enough to melt stone and spawn chaos demons like that one," he says, gesturing to the broken, headless corpse as he finishes.

Immediately upon seeing the corpse, Port rushes over, muttering about constitution, physiology, and strength levels under his breath. 'Seems like he's trying to figure out how to more easily kill them,' Ignis thinks to himself.

Oobleck, however, is more interested in the past, if his questions are anything to go by. "Has what you described ever happened before today?"

"It has. The Chaos Sorceress Quela fused her Lord's Soul with her innate life flames, the precursor to Pyromantic Flames. With help, she controlled it for a time, unable to outright use the power the 'second flame' possessed. Unfortunately, she lost control when she actually attempted to use the power, and it quickly got out of hand. By the time it stabilized, most of the city was buried under a literal lake full of chaos lava, what few denizens survived were converted into demons, and she herself became the 'Bed of Chaos', a giant, tree looking monster that birthed chaos demons at an astonishing rate."

"Were there any unconverted survivors?"

"Three... no, four. Quelana and the eldest of the witch's daughters were physically unhurt, and Quelaan and Quelaag were both technically survivors."

"Technically?"

"The chaos flames were unkind to them. While everything above their waists was unscathed, everything below was converted into a spider-like chaos demon that they were still attached to. They could control it like their own legs, but it was different enough to have its own physiology, including several eyes, a mouth that spewed lava, and other things that most people don't have in stead of legs."

"I see. What did the 'demons' as you call them do?"

"Most of them contented themselves with slaughtering each other within the Demon Ruins and Izalith itself, although they stopped when they get strong enough to lose the thrill of combat or smart enough to fear death... I think. To my knowledge, only two ever left the Ruins, and I killed both of them in self defense."

"Is there any chance of an outbreak of these chaos demons?"

"From the former witch? No, I killed her."

"And from you?"

"I'm unsure. My weakest attack spawned a chaos demon, but I might be able to learn how to separate the Aura from the flames, which should theoretically prevent them from spawning a demon with every attack. Furthermore, I am in control of my soul and flames; the witch wasn't. Further still, the flames can be used to defend and heal as well; the effects of having a bit of aura in those are unknown to me, and could just as easily be beneficial as the could be malignant."

"So, by your own admission, you can easily bring forth demons with your attacks. Can you control them?"

"I haven't tried; my go-to strategy for seeing something that wishes me harm is generally to kill it until it is permanently dead. Considering that the Bed of Chaos could at least influence the demons, I might be able do the same, but the demon in question would have to be docile before I would attempt it, by which point we wouldn't be able to justify calling it a demon anymore."

Hearing this, the one in silver, Ironwood (if Ignis recalled correctly), said, "So, to summarize, you are currently one of the biggest threats to humanity around?"

Ignis shrugs the implication off, saying, "I'd like to think that the monsters knocking at your doors that are openly attempting to kill you are a bigger threat than I am, considering I can be reasoned with and do not rely on my pyromantic abilities nearly as much as I could."

Ironwood continues, uncaring. "The threat you pose remains," he says, before addressing the professors. "I propose we incarcerate him until he is ab-"

At this point, Ignis simply decides he has had enough of the uptight general. Ignoring the brewing argument between him and Glynda, he walks away. Port, upon seeing this, calls out to him, "Where are you going, lad?"

Ignis laughs and says, "I'm going to the library. It'll be interesting to see how written language has evolved since my time in the kiln. Also, call me Ignis. The only being old enough to call me 'lad' that still lives is the former Kingseeker, to my knowledge." With that, he left in order to see what knowledge the world had discovered and lost in the time he spent slumbering, as well as how it changed.


	11. Chapter 11

Turning the corner about five minutes after leaving the arena, Ignis (in true fashion) bumped into someone significantly shorter than him, knocking them over. "Ow! There you are you big lug, I've been looking for... you're not Yatsuhashi," said an oddly accented, feminine voice.

Ignis laughs and says, "And you're not wrong. I'm Ignis." Extending a hand to help her up, he says, "And who might you be?"

Taking the hand and pulling herself up, the girl says, "I'm Velvet Scarlatina. Is there a reason you're flaring your aura? Actually, nevermind. Have you seen a guy a little bit tanner than you, and about your height around here? He wears green armor and wields a massive, orange sword."

"I haven't, actually. I'm heading to the library. If I see him there or on the way, I'll tell him to call or message you. Okay?"

"That would be great, thanks."

Ignis takes a left at the next split, only to hear Velvet call out to him, "Other way!"

"Thanks!" he shouts back, turning around and going to the right. After about five more minutes of walking, he comes across a familiar set of double doors.

Upon entering the room, his gaze is filled with a huge amount of books, lining the shelves that stretch almost the whole length of the room. While not nearly the number held within the maddened Duke's archives, there were still a great number of books. Noticing an attendant, he asks, "Excuse me, could you point out the ancient history and aura technique sections?"

Looking up, the attendant says, "I can, if you can promise not to burn anything with those flames. Is that a burn dust infusion?"

"No, no, that would probably result in an explosion with me. No, I just unlocked my aura, and it has yet to stop the glowing," Ignis corrects, laughing.

"How long ago, five minutes? And for that matter, how'd you make it in without aura? Beacon's pretty prestigious, and they don't usually accept students without a year of aura experience."

"In that order, it's going on an hour, I'm just that good with my weapons, and I'm apprenticing under Oobleck, so there may be different circumstances for that," Ignis says.

The attendant just stares, then decides better than to question it, saying, "Nope. Okay, I need to know that you won't burn the books, so here," before handing Ignis a blank sheet of paper.

"Uhh, thanks? Is there a reason for giving me paper?" Ignis asks.

"A sheet of paper will burn before a book. Come on, I'll take you to the sections," the attendant replies before walking over to an aisle roughly in the center of the library. "This shelf is the ancient history section. There isn't much due to the fact that most of the history predating the grimm was lost when they appeared, and by the time we started keeping history again, we didn't know how long it had been. Aura techniques is the next aisle over, towards the eastern wall. It takes up the whole aisle, so don't worry about missing it. One more thing; keep an eye on the paper at all times. If it ignites, drop the book, because you're going to be paying for each one you burn, got it?"

"Ancient history knowledge can be condensed to fit into a thimble, aura techniques are an aisle over, don't burn the place down. Got it."

"Good. Also, you can't take any books out of the library yet."

"Let me guess, fire hazard?"

"Actually, smart ass, it's because you need official student, apprentice, or faculty credentials, and you have yet to get them." Finishing the amusing (to Ignis, at least) banter, the attendant heads back up to her desk. Ignis himself turns to the shelf, scanning for any books that might contain useful knowledge. _'The Origin of Man and Grimm', 'The Creation of Dust', and 'The Genesis of the Soul Arts' seem like good ideas to start with,' _Ignis thinks to himself, grabbing the books off the shelf before heading to the Aura Techniques section.

Upon entering it, he quickly realized that the bulk of what he saw was for various different styles, none of which he used. With a tired sigh, he began scanning the aisle, searching for anything that could help him either refine his style or reign in his rampant aura. _'Okay, let's see here... no, I won't be using aura in conjunction with martial arts, so this whole shelf is out... 'A Guide to the Soul's Flame'? let's just se- written by Quelana. Taking this... okay, 'How to Weaponize Aura and Aurify Weapons'? Sounds like Solaire's miracles to me... Taking this... 'Common Methods of Chameleonism', by Marvelous Chester. Sure, why not? Taking this... 'Advanced Aura Channeling'? Sounds good... Aaand, that's it.'_

With the seven books in hand, he walks over to a table, pulls out a seat, and promptly shatters it when he tries to sit down. 'Stupid chair being made of weak wood, gods dammit-'

"Are you alright? That sounded painful." Looking up, he saw the girl with Alvina's eyes and a black bow, Blake (if Ignis recalls).

"For the chair, maybe. I'm fine," Ignis says. "So, what brings you here, kitten?"

At that, Blake gives him a funny look before answering, "I come here for peace and quiet. Ruby keeps having nightmares when she tries to sleep for more than ten seconds, Yang is trying to help, and Weiss is still loudly trying to come up with better theories than the reason you gave for being in the cavern. Also, Kitten?"

"Yeah. I knew a cat named Alvina who had eyes quite similar in color to yours, and the bow only makes the comparison easier to make. Also, does Ruby still have the pendant I gave her? It may help her if she wears it to bed if she keeps having nightmares."

"You gave her a pendant?"

"Yeah, to help. It was enchanted to help invoke pleasant memories and feelings. She helped unlock my aura, and while I tried to keep her from my memories as much as I could, she still got a few."

"And they were that bad? Oh, right, you're 'undead'."

"Formerly undead. My next death will be my last."

"Whatever. Were they really that bad? You survived them all."

"Did I though? Undeath is characterized not by being unable to die, but by being unable to _stay_ dead. While an undead doesn't need a brain, or a heart, or blood, or normal bodily functions, he still needed a body _to_ function. Sufficiently crippling it would result in death, as would causing enough pain to force the undead to shut down. The whole body would burn upon death, and the ashes would condense at where the biggest piece was. If there were bonfires around, they would automatically condense there. Unfortunately, being unable to stay dead has resulted in suffering a great number of painful deaths. As sad as it is, I would have been more surprised if she didn't have nightmares from what she saw."

"And what did she see?"

"Four of my deaths. One was to the Gaping Dragon if her comment about a toothy monster was anything to go by. Another was to the Dragonslayer, the third one I know was a Darkwraith, and the last one was simply falling to my death, which happened a lot. Seriously, falling was a rather large problem for me. In any case, tell her the pendant only helps if she either has it in her hand or wears it."

"And why don't you tell her?"

"Because I don't know where she sleeps, and you apparently do? Besides, I can't check books out yet."

"Is it the fire hazard?"

"That's what I said, but no, apparently my apprentice credentials haven't gone through yet."


	12. Chapter 12

After a few more minutes of small talk, Blake left to get some studying in. Seeing this, Ignis spends the next few minutes reading 'The Origin of Man and Grimm', hoping to glean some knowledge that may help in their slaying.

Reading 'The Origin of Man and Grimm' (and promptly seeing just how much history has been lost, for man to think it came from dust), Ignis was beginning to realize that mankind knew less about their biggest enemy than he had hoped. To recap; Man didn't know where the grimm came from, or what made them, or why they attacked only humanity without provocation (utterly ignoring any wildlife or mechanical golems called 'robots' unless provoked), or why they dissipated upon death, or anything that can't be ascertained at a glance, really. It was kind of depressing.

As he was considering whether or not to read 'The Creation of Dust' before 'Advanced Aura Channeling', someone cleared their throat from behind him. Turning (as much as he could while sitting on the ground), he saw Oobleck behind him. "Have Goodwitch and Ironwood stopped arguing yet?" Ignis asks.

For his part, Oobleck seems amused. "They have. Professor Goodwitch is surprisingly adamant about preventing you from being detained, especially since she agrees that you need a better handle on your aura. Is there any reason?" he asks.

"The fire based attack that melted the wall and created that chaos demon was my weakest pyromantic attack, which I used to merely demonstrate why the merging of my pyromantic flame and my soul was a bad thing. She probably figures that any attempts to incarcerate me will result in me leaving a mess of lava and demons as I walk out," Ignis says.

Oobleck's face takes a stern countenance as he says, "Is she right?"

"Partially. While I freely admit that I would walk out without hesitation, I doubt I would need to leave lava and demons behind. I'm probably strong enough to break down the wall bare handed," Ignis affably answers.

Oobleck looks curious, asking, "Really? Do you know the upper limits of your strength?"

Ignis gives him a look as he said, "Even if I did, I wouldn't disclose that. Why?"

Oobleck either misses the look or genuinely didn't have an ulterior motive, considering his reaction and answer. "I was curious to know if your level of strength was typical for warriors back from your time. Anyways, Ozpin and the others need to speak with you. I'd like to continue these questions on the way to his office."

Ignis stands up and dusts himself off, removing a few splinters of wood that clung to the leather and what little cloth remained on his armor. Walking off with Oobleck, he says, "That's a fair enough reason, I guess. When I started out, I had typical strength. Maybe a little bit stronger than average, but still typical. As time passed, I needed to become stronger, and so I did. As of now, my strength would be considered ruinously difficult if not entirely impossible to attain, and I'm far stronger than many who were considered legendary for their strength. So no; my current strength level would have been unheard of or legendary for a human, and admirable among the giants and gods."

"Gods? You're religious?" Oobleck asks, sounding shocked.

"I myself am not religious, per se. The gods cared less about religion and more about faith. While some miracles I used required great faith, like Great Healing and Soothing Sunlight, others I used didn't, mainly Sunlight Spear and Sunlight Blade."

"Why would some require faith while others wouldn't?"

"Sunlight Blade and the Sunlight Spear miracles were given to humans to use by the God of War, the Lord of Sunlight's Firstborn. While he was stripped of his deific status and disowned for his affinity to humans and his loss of the annals, he was still a god, and could grant boons. Turns out, an old friend of mine that I traveled with for a few decades was the God of War himself. He likely granted me a boon that allowed me to use his miracles as he could, although I still need a talisman to channel the effects."

"Can anyone use these miracles?"

"In theory, yes. In practice, unlikely; both Sunlight Blade and Sunlight Spear required near limitless faith, and only the most pious and faithful of worshipers could ever hope to use them effectively. Fortunately, Sunlight Spear has two lesser miracles derived from it that require less faith to use. While they are weaker, it would be easier to use them."

At this, Oobleck looks curious once more. "And what are they called?" he asks.

"They are called Greater and Lesser Lightning Spears," Ignis answers.

"Impressive names."

"Impressive miracles. While they are still far weaker than Sunlight Spears, they're still more than enough for all but the most durable of enemies."

"I see. What I can't help but wonder, however, is what calamity would necessitate the birth of such powerful attacks? What force could be so great and terrible that the gods themselves, as you say, would need such devastating attacks? Grimm?"

Hearing that, Ignis laughs. "No, no grimm were around back then, which is partially why I'm so curious about them. No, what necessitated such powerful attacks were the Everlasting Dragons that ruled this world before the gods won it and gave it form. The scales were easily hard enough to shrug off most attacks; it was quite common for a dragon to bind its life force to its scales, which is what gave them the name 'The Immortal Scales of the Everlasting Dragons'. Needless to say, they were almost impossible to destroy. Sunlight Spears were one of the few methods; while the attack wouldn't cause too much internal damage, the scale that was hit would shatter inward, any adjacent scales would be stripped off by the force of the attack, and the scales near those were often damaged or stripped as well."

"I see. You said the gods formed the world?"

"Eh, in a way. Basically, the Dragons kept the world the way they liked it; grey, foggy, and full of craigs and Archtrees. When the gods won the world, they let it evolve and take form. While they did guide it on occasion, in most cases they sat back and let disparity shape the world. While the Church of Thorolund and the Way of White say the gods actively formed the world and helped patrol it, I personally found that the gods either let their followers step up to the task or were too weak to outright interfere in the vast majority of cases. In fact, the only covenant that had any real divine intervention was the Warriors of Sunlight. While the God of War would usually watch over his warriors as an older brother would watch his younger siblings, all of the warriors could summon him in times of great need, although very few suspected it was him, and no one knew outright. Summoning was a staple for us, and most of the time, we assumed he was simply another devout follower of the God of War, as we could summon each other as easily as we could summon him."

"Indeed? Do you thin- ah, I'll ask later, we're here," Oobleck begins to say before interrupting himself.

Walking through the doors of the elevator, Ignis had to admit that the office was impressive. With a glass wall that allowed the whole of Beacon to be seen from above, the view was astounding, and the massive gears overheard were turning with a soft whirr, making a soothing white noise that helped bring a sense of calmness. A desk sat in the center of the room, facing away from the window (_probably for the better, I know I wouldn't get any work done with a view like that staring me in the face_, Ignis thought to himself). Behind the desk stood Ozpin, Ironwood, and Goodwitch. "So," begins Ozpin, "General Ironwood has made it known that he feels that you should be detained in order to contain the threat you pose. Professor Goodwitch, while agreeing that you pose a threat, is adamant that you remain undetained. Upon being pressed, she admitted that you are capable of melting stone with a literal wave of your hand, and the act also spawns a monster that attacks whatever it sees. She has impressed upon me that incarceration would be detrimental beyond measure, as you would escape, leaving lava and monsters in your wake. I myself feel that I need more information before I come to a decision. So: Would you use your power to escape?"

Ignis answers, "In a way, yes, and in a way, no. Yes, I would escape, and there is no way for you to prevent me from doing so, but I wouldn't use my pyromancies unless it were a last resort situation. That being said, I'm more than likely capable of breaking out on my physical strength alone, so you wouldn't have to worry about lava and demons. Just a few broken walls."

Ozpin's face is inscrutable as he says, "Well, I'm at a loss then. If what you say is true, and what Glynda saw was an accurate portrayal of your abilities, then we can't detain you. However, you do pose a threat, and we cannot ignore that. What would you do in our place?"

Ignis is barely able to keep a straight face as he answers, "I personally find that asking nicely and being reasonable is a good strategy when it comes to dealing with powerful beings you can't directly control. Having said that, I am willing to be reasonable myself. So long as I have a place I can sleep and a place I can train without fear of accidentally killing someone, the ability to travel to nearby towns in order to shop for supplies and to get a grip on the current culture, and study materials, I'm willing to remain in a relatively fixed location, such as here, for the duration of the time it takes for me to relearn how to use the soul arts and my pyromancy."

Ozpin is rapidly proving to be a master of keeping a straight face. 'Considering' the offer, he says, "I still have that dorm room in the current second year wing available for you. As for training, the Emerald and Forever Fall Forests are teeming with grimm; so long as you don't use your powers while there are students in the forest, I don't mind if you head out there to train. Study materials, of course, will be provided as you are still apprenticing under Oobleck... unless that has changed?"

"It hasn't to my knowledge. Professor?"

"I stand by my previous commitment."

Ozpin gives a small, almost imperceptible smile as he says, "Splendid. However, I trust you understand that I cannot allow you into the city without supervision."

"I understand. So long as they don't attempt to stop me from doing anything without good reason, I am perfectly fine with having an escort while I am 'in the city', as you say," Ignis replies.

Ozpin smiles more openly at that, then asks, "Would you be willing to contain your trips to the city to the weekends?"

"That depends. How long is a weekend, and how long of a time separates them?"

At that, Ozpin puts on his best poker face again, answering, "The weekend is two days long, and occurs at the end of every seven days. How did you not know what a weekend was, if I may ask?"

"Time currently flows like a sedate river here, ever forward and unchanging in pace. This wasn't always the case, however. Back before I went to the kiln, Gwyn sacrificed himself to prevent the First Flame from extinguishing. While he was successful in extending the age, a direct result of his success was that time stopped flowing properly. Often, I would meet people from different times, both well before my escape from the asylum and long after the end of my journey. 'Once', I was ripped through time, almost a millennium into the past. More than once, I completed my journey only to wake up at the very beginning of it, with only my arms, armor, power, and scars to prove that I had completed it before. I assume that time started flowing properly after my last time in the kiln, after which the 'cycle' as I called it finally ended."

"That sounds like quite the tale. In any case, I'm afraid I don't have quite the time to hear it. So, I propose this; for the duration of your apprenticeship here, you will be given all the perks of being a student. This includes room and board, the ability to travel to the City of Vale during the weekends, and full access to the unrestricted portions of of our library. In return, you may not use your powers if there is a chance of collateral damage or casualties, and you may not leave for Vale without supervision from a second year or higher group of Hunter Trainees; at least two are required in order to qualify. You will have to undergo an initiation tomorrow, after which you will be expected to attend certain classes, and may be asked to participate in things like combat practice. You will be required to prove that you are learning through written tests-"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot agree with the written tests currently. While I can understand the written language just fine due to a side effect of being formerly undead, I am unsure if I can actually write the language."

"Then you will be expected to learn the written language as well, if needed. Until you have a grip on the written language, you will take spoken tests. Do you agree to these terms?"

Ignis makes a show of considering, before answering, "I find them acceptable, and will abide by them, so long as no one attempts to incarcerate or hurt me."

At this, Ozpin smiles again, saying, "Then it is settled. Professor Oobleck, would you please escort Ignis to his dorm?"

"Of course. Ignis, if you would follow me?"


	13. Chapter 13

Ignis, upon examining the dorm room, quickly decided that he liked it. While the amount of beds and dressers was unnecessary, the 'bathroom' was absolutely amazing. With a shower big enough to comfortably fit him, a tub to draw water for a bath, a _flushing _toilet and a sink with running water instead of a chamber pot and basin of hopefully unused water, it was more than he had hoped for.

Deciding to make room, he grabbed three of the beds and stuffed them into his bottomless box, thinking, _'Because you never know when having three beds will be useful.'_

Grabbing the only bed left, he moves it over to the wall near the bathroom before setting it down, top headboard and side against the walls. After that, he grabs the empty dressers and stuffs them into the bottomless box as well, if only to get them out of the way, before moving the remaining one to the wall the bed's headboard is on, touching the bed.

Inspecting the rearranged room, he nods in satisfaction. After removing his armor, he hears a knock on the door. Extending his senses, he finds that it is Weiss and Ruby. "In a minute!" he calls, before throwing on a cloth shirt and pants. "Okay, you can come in!"

"Hey Ignis," a very tired sounding Ruby says as she walks in. "Me and Weiss-"

"Weiss and I," interrupts Weiss.

"Are going out to Vale to get some sleep aids. You want to come?" Ruby continues, too tired to correct herself.

"Why sleep aids?" Ignis asks.

"Because I can't sleep, keep having nightmares." She listlessly answers.

Ignis considers, then says, "Eh, sure, why not. Let me just get some light armor on-"

At this, Weiss interrupts, saying, "You don't need armor, just wear something casual."

Ignis twitches at the word 'casual', saying, "The lightest thing I wear are my light armors and Pyromancer's Robes. I don't have 'casual' clothes. Like I said, light armor."

Reaching his whole arm into the bottomless box (much to Weiss's shock), he grabs a soft leather gambeson and boots, pulling them out. Quickly dressing, he says, "Let's get going," as he ties his pouch (with weapons) to his belt.

As they walk, he turns to Ruby and asks, "So, did the pendant stop working or something?"

"No, but I generally toss and turn as it is, and having a chain wrapped around my neck would be bad," she answers.

"Then why not wrap it around your hand? It works just as well in hand as it does around your neck."

"We tried that first. I keep knocking it off, and then the nightmares start."

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that. And about the nightmares, for that matter."

Ruby just sighs, saying, "Don't be. You tried to keep the memories from me, and you did your best."

Hearing this, Weiss asks, "Wait, memories? So you unlocked his aura? Why?"

"Because Professor Goodwitch couldn't and I was the only person he felt comfortable enough with to actually be able to unlock it."

Weiss looks shocked, and exclaims, "How? Goodwitch can unlock anyone's aura, so long as they have eyes!"

"Because he didn't have eyes at the time."

Ignis interjects with, "Still don't, really."

Ruby looks at him, confusion crossing her tired face, and says, "Yes you do. I told you right after I unlocked your aura, remember?"

"No, you slurred 'that wazh a thiiing,' before passing out. This is the first I've heard about having eyes... so I've been wearing these sunglasses for no reason? Great. Now I can take them off," Ignis says, removing his sunglasses.

**[LINE BREAK]**

Getting to the airship docks and into Vale was easy, even if riding in the bullhead still made Ignis nervous. Getting the sleep aids, however, wasn't.

"I'm sorry, girls, but we're out. The Breach last year still gives people nightmares, and we sell out of these types of meds fast," the 'cashier' as Ruby called him says. "Tell you what; I know a small store run by the nicest old man you'll ever meet. Head to 'Meds and Mugs: Pharmaceuticals and Fine Drink'. It's three blocks north, one west. Ask the old man for "McLoyf's Blessing". If he thinks you need it, you'll get the meds. Or a hard drink, but you didn't hear that from me."

Weiss starts to object. "But-"

Ignis, however, interrupts. "Thank you, good man. You said three blocks north and one west?"

"Yeah, that's it. South side of the street, can't miss it; it's the only building on the block that isn't 5 stories tall."

"Got it."

Upon exitting the building, Weiss rounds on Ignis. "What the hell do you think you are doing? Ruby needs those meds!"

Ruby tries to interject, but is shut down almost before she can begin.

"No, Ruby, this doesn't fly! You need actual medicine, not a shot glass full of liquer from an old man!" Rounding back on Ignis, she says, "What do you have to say for yourself? Care to explain what you're doing?"

Without missing a beat, Ignis says, "Divine Intervention is what I'm doing. It's likely the old man is a cleric for the god of medicine and drink, if the cash guy was right." Having said that, he begins walking even as Weiss attempts to continue the argument.

Upon arriving on the street in question, Ignis immediately sees the building, what with it being two stories tall with a bright neon sign. Walking in with Weiss and Ruby, he sees an extremely old man at the strange money-holding machine... an old man that bears an impossibly strong resemblance to the face on the copper coins Ignis keeps.

"Ah, what's this? Two young women and a not so young man... What brings you to my store?" The old man says.

"She," Ignis says, pointing to Ruby, "helped unlock my aura, and caught some unpleasant memories. They've been giving her nightmares to the point that she can't sleep for more than a few seconds at a time, if her black haired team mate is to be believed. We can't find any meds that aid sleep; the Breach last year apparently traumatized a lot of people, and the meds that she needs are selling out too fast for us to get in a timely manner."

The man gives Ignis a hard look and says, "And what, pray tell, would be so bad in your memories as to cause nightmares? What did she experience?"

"The effect of lifedrain, as only an undead can experience, along with ge-"

At this point, the old man interrupts him, saying, "I've heard enough. She'll get her medicine. Just give me a minute to grab it from the back, and another to sanctify it."

Shuffling into the back, Weiss yet again rounds on Ignis. "What's so bad about this 'lifedrain'? You were undead, or so you say. How would 'lifedrain' affect you?" she asks, possibly trying to understand what's so bad about it, possibly to try and trap Ignis into admitting that he wasn't undead.

"The art of Lifedrain removed the life and humanity from those who suffered from it. Undead aren't alive, however, so they must offer up something else to be taken," Ignis responds cryptically.

"Oh, so now you answer with riddles? Why can't you just admit-" Weiss begins, before being cut off by Ruby.

"Weiss, an Undead gets their soul and humanity ripped out when they get hit with lifedrain. That's why I keep flaring my aura when I wake up; in the nightmare, I feel the monster rip my soul out the same way it ripped his out," she says.

Weiss looks aghast. Paling to the point of almost being transparent, she says, "I... I think I'm going to be sick."

The old man re-enters the room just in time to wave his hand, casting some kind of miracle. Ignis stiffens noticeably at the distinct lack of a talisman. Weiss, however, immediately regains color, and after a look of confusion, asks, "Thanks, I think. What did you do?"

"I decided that I wasn't going to clean up vomit," the 'old man' affably replied. "Anyway, here's some whiskey, and a shot glass. The whiskey's been treated, and will help if you drink a shot glass of it before going to bed, and do so every night before bed until the whiskey's gone. Once the bottle is finished, the memories shouldn't affect you any more. Now, if that's all, I hope I see you under better circumstances."

Ignis, however, decides that it isn't all, saying, "Actually, Old Man, I'd like to purchase some miracles. I have some blank scrolls, so that-"

"I have several copied down for the few that remember how to invoke miracles. You may buy some from the stock. How will you pay?" the man says.

"I have coppers," Ignis says dryly.

The old man laughs, before saying, "Oh, I like you. Honest to gods good humor is a rare trait when it comes to you undead, former or current. Unfortunately, I don't accept those. You need soul energy for miracles."

"How much? I have the amount, but it's solid."

"Normally I would charge more, but you get the comedy discount. A Brave Warrior's worth, I reckon, and you'll have a copy of all three, and moonshine to use with it."

Pulling out a soul of a Brave Warrior, Ignis says, "Here," as he hands it over.

The old man crushes it in his grip, and a light washes over him. When it recedes, he looks noticeably younger (if still within his twilight years). "Ahh, that is a nice feeling," he says before pulling a box out from underneath the counter. Pulling out 3 scrolls and a bottle of moonshine, he hands them over, saying, "They all will sanctify a hard drink. The harder the drink, like this moonshine, the better the effects, in all cases. This one, the Loon's Lucky Liqueur, will cure mental ills, like minor psychosis, insomnia, nightmares, and things like that. This one here, the Hale Man's Ale, will cure physical ailments, like burns, breaks, minor birth defects, and the like. That one, the Balmy Brew, will cure exotic effects, like poisons, minor curses, disease, and other effects that are neither physical nor mental in nature."

"If they all have more potency with more alcohol, why name one the 'Hale Man's Ale'? Ale doesn't have that much alcohol in it," Ignis asks. The old man laughs, saying, "The miracles all change the taste of the drink, and I like the taste of that one best with a pale ale."

"Fair enough, Old Man. Thanks for the cure," Ignis says as he, Weiss, and a very tired Ruby leave.

On the bullhead back (with Ruby sleeping soundly, having taken her shot in order to get some rest), Weiss and Ignis begin to talk at the same time. Ignis nods, saying, "Ladies first."

Nodding in turn, Weiss asks, "Why did you stiffen when the old man used that ability?"

Ignis laughs, saying, "_Because_ he used it. That was a miracle, and he had no talisman. The only beings that can use miracles without a talisman to invoke it are the ones who made the miracles, or gifted the ability through blood relation to them. Considering the creator of that miracle had no children to pass the ability on to, it's safe to assume we weren't talking to an old cleric; we were talking to the Old Man McLoyf, God of Medicine and Drink himself. As for my question; why did you begin to feel sick when Ruby said that her nightmares had her relive getting my soul ripped out as if she were the victim?"

At that, Weiss pales again, saying, "Aura is a physical manifestation of our soul. Our semblances reflect on what makes that soul unique. Most have their aura unlocked at birth or early childhood, and spend the vast majority of their lives with it. The very thought of not having our soul, when we literally can feel it at all times and have been feeling it for almost all our lives, is nauseating. Imagining having it ripped out of me is enough to make me physically ill, and would likely have similar effects on most people who had their aura unlocked at a young age... to think Ruby physically experienced that, even if only through your memories... no wonder she kept waking up screaming almost immediately after falling asleep. I don't think I'd ever sleep again for fear of nightmares."

**[LINE BREAK]**

Upon arriving at Beacon, Ignis grabs Ruby up in his arms, carrying her to her room. Setting her and the bottle of whiskey in her bed, he then goes to his room. Closing the door and undressing down to his pants, he sanctifies a sip of the moonshine with the Loon's Lucky Liqueur, slugs it back, and goes to sleep, a pendant clutched in his fingers. For the first time in his existence, his sleep is full of happy dreams, unplagued by nightmares.


	14. Chapter 14

Ignis awoke to the sound of 'knocking' on his door. Really, it inspired 'fond' memories in Ignis. The sound was quite reminiscent of the butt pounds executed by the Stray Demons in the asylum and by Smough in Anor Londo.

Getting up and grabbing a cloth shirt, he put it on as he walked to the door. Opening it, he immediately catches a 'knock' on his scar from Ornstein. "What is it, Yang?" he wheezes out, his breath having fled from the unexpected hit to the solar plexus.

For her part, Yang doesn't look too happy. Hair blazing with sunlight and eyes the color of garnets, she says, "Care to explain why I found my sister in bed with a bottle of whiskey this morning? I'd ask Weiss, but I know you're far more able to take a hit."

"Can't adults drink? I thought she said she was an adult," he wheezed, gaining his breath slowly.

"The drinking age is seventeen! The only reason I haven't poured it out is because Ruby said that she didn't have a nightmare because of the whiskey when I confronted her. Now are you going to explain?"

"We couldn't find any sleep aids-"

"So you got her drunk?!"

"No, I didn't. The last place we checked had a guy tell us to go to Meds and Mugs and ask the old man for 'McLoyf's Blessing'. McLoyf was the old god of Medicine and Drink, so I assumed the old man would be a cleric that could give us something to help. Turns out, it was McLoyf himself. He sanctified that bottle himself and gave it to her, saying that she needs to take a shot each night before bed, and that by the time the bottle was out, she'd no longer have nightmares," Ignis says. "So seriously, don't pour that out. She may be able to make due with another bottle, but that one was specifically made for her predicament, and I doubt McLoyf would give us another without charging us."

Yang gives him a hard look. "You swear?"

"By Gwyn's Lightning."

Upon hearing that, her gaze softened considerably as her eyes returned to their natural purple. "Alright, then," she says, turning to walk off, presumably back to her room. Making it three steps, she stops, and turns her head back, saying, "Oh yeah! Oobleck and Goodwitch wanted you at the sparring arena for your initiation. You have any idea where that is?"

Ignis begins to grab some armor as he answers. "I do, actually. Do you know what the initiation will contain? If it involves sparring, I'll need to use a different weapon," he says as he begins to grab the Guardian's Armor (sans helmet) he found scattered throughout the Royal Wood from his bottomless box.

Yang looks puzzled as she answers, "The first half will, although the second will probably involve grimm in some way. Why?"

"Kalameet was a right bastard in life, and in death his hatred and bitterness only intensified. The sword itself, while wickedly sharp and grievously heavy, wouldn't be able to cause the amount of damage each hit inflicts. However, my greatsword was forged directly from the bones in the monster's tail, and the remnants of his malignance cause the blade to deal more damage than it should," Ignis replies while pulling on his armor.

Upon finishing, he reaches back into his bottomless box and pulls out a demon greataxe. Resting it easily on his shoulder, he places the box and his Obsidian Ultra-Greatsword into his pouch as he leaves.

He makes it all of thirty feet before he hears a, "Hey, wait up!" Turning his head back, he sees Yang and Ruby jog up as Weiss and Blake are just beginning to leave their room. Confused, Ignis says, "What do you need?"

"We want to watch! They've never seen you fight, and I only saw you, well, die. And besides, we've never seen you use an axe before!" Ruby excitedly says.

At that, Ignis laughs, saying, "That's because I prefer swords. Don't get me wrong, axes are great, but swords? Swords can be used for damn near everything, up to and including dragonslaying. Besides, I always worry that the handle will break when I hit something with an axe due to the fact that all the weight is in the tip."

"Then why use an axe at all? You have that monstrous greatsword," Weiss inquires as Blake nods in agreement.

"Which is drenched to the point of saturation with the combined hate, rage, and bitterness of the last of the Everlasting Dragons... or so called 'last', if what Frampt said about Kalameet having progeny was true. In any case, that weapon has a will of its own, and will go out of its way to inflict as much suffering and death as it can. I use it when I fight to the death because its damn good at killing, and it enjoys it. Sparring though? Using the Obsidian Ultra-Greatsword in sparring is a tragedy waiting to happen. As such, I will use this; it isn't aware and malicious, so it can't attempt to sabotage the fight. However, it remains nice and heavy, so I can actually feel like I'm not just annoying something when I hit my opponents," Ignis replies.

After a fair bit of small talk, they arrived at the arena. As RWBY splits off to watch from the stands, Ignis himself enters the arena proper and greets Goodwitch. "I'm here, Goodwitch. I'm told I will be doing some sparring as a part of my initiation?" he asks.

Goodwitch says, "Correct. For the first half of your initiation, you will be sparring with team Juniper. Remember, no fire attacks, and no lethal or crippling attacks. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, don't melt the floor and don't use more than a third of my strength. Got it."

"Alright, we will begin when team Juniper gets here."

Not a second after she said that, a group of four walked into the arena. The two tallest, a blonde young man and a young woman with scarlet hair, were walking shoulder to shoulder, laughing about something. The other two, the green wearing man with black hair and a large scar crossing his neck and the pink wearing girl with orange hair, were hand in hand, simply smiling as they walked. "Sorry about that, professor," the blonde says, "Nora had an issue with her grenades and needed to check each one to be sure that the ones she loaded were concussive. Won't happen again."

"Make sure it doesn't. Ignis, this is Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie of Team JNPR. You will choose two of them to spar against for your initiation." At that, Ignis began speaking 'to himself'.

"Hmm, I hear the dominatrix and her whipping boy are good," he says, smiling broadly at the shade of crimson they both turn, "But on the other hand, the other two are sure to have an interesting dynamic, and I do love surprises... But then again, I could fight any two of them, so I could mix and match a sword and board with whatever the other two are... Eh, I can't decide on two. I'll just fight all four of them," he says, to everyone's shock.

Goodwitch recovers first, saying, "Are you sure? This team is ranked in the top three for their year, and-"

"I'm sure. I haven't actually had a decent challenge in what feels like millennia, so I'm eager to see how rusty I've gotten with the greataxe, much as I loathe using them. Can't do that if there's no danger."

Goodwitch looks at him uncertainly, before taking out her scroll. After tapping a few buttons, she looks to a hidden camera and says with an air of authority, "This is a recording of a simulated battle between Huntsman Initiate Ignis of parts unknown and Team JNPR of Beacon Academy. This recording will be used to show both sides their strength and weaknesses so that they may better improve themselves. Are both sides ready?"

Ignis immediately answers, "I am."

Jaune looks to his team, saying, "Everyone know what to do?" At the three nods, he says, "We are."

Upon hearing this, Goodwitch says, "Begin."

At that, both sides immediately spring into action. Ignis leaps forward, axe held high to slam into the red haired girl. She and the green wearing man both leap to two different sides as the blond man brings his shield up to deflect the attack to the side. He is partially successful, and while the deflection knocks Ignis off balance, Jaune himself is sent sprawling from the hit. As Jaune gets up and charges, the red haired one rushes Ignis, intent on occupying him. Mistaking her enthusiasm for a challenge, and all to happy to oblige, Ignis begins dodging, deflecting, and blocking sword strikes from both on his gauntles, greaves, and the haft of his axe.

After a few seconds of Jaune and Pyrrha failing to get a hit past Ignis's armor, JNPR enacted their plan. With a shout of, "NOW!" from Jaune, one of the two Ignis wasn't fighting jumped onto his back. Digging into the straps of his armor with a blade, whoever it was cut the straps, causing the armor to fall to the floor with a loud crash. Having done what the unknown person intended, they leapt off, purposefully attempting (and failing) to knock Ignis off balance. As Ignis begins to turn, he sees the dynamic duo back off rapidly and realizes that they had planned out the whole fight to set up for a major attack. Hearing a strange sound, he immediately dodged an odd cylinder from the orange haired girl before catching another in his unoccupied hand. However, this had the effect of leaving him with two full hands and no time to dodge the third attack, which caught him in the chest, detonating both the impacting cylinder and the one he was holding in a massive explosion. Flying backwards, he crashes into a wall, cratering it, before falling to the ground.

Getting up, he sees that the three who were fighting him in close quarters had been caught in the blast as well. While the red head and the blonde were trying to get up, the one in green was unconscious. Goodwitch, of course, was not amused by this turn of events. "Ms. Valkyrie, are you certain that you used only concussive grenades?" she asks with a voice sharp enough to cut glass.

Nora, however, was simply too stunned to answer, simply staring at Ignis with a mixture of horror, relief, and something he couldn't identify on her face. In her stead, Jaune answers, "She checked three times and Ren checked twice. The only way the grenades caused that was if Ignis was dumping aura into them."

Hearing that, Goodwitch rounds on Ignis, a look of unbridled fury on her face. "I specifically told you to not use any fire based attacks. Did I not?"

"You did, and I didn't, as you'll notice upon seeing the distinct lack of lava and chaos demons," Ignis says. "I can't help the aura dumping, remember?"

Goodwitch says, "No, I don't. All I know is that the nurse called me yesterday to tell me that you had a high aura and it needed to be tested, because you were having a problem. I never learned what that problem was."

"The problem," Ignis says, "is that I have to constantly radiate aura out, due to the sheer amount I have. If I don't, my aura will forcefully induce unnatural growth, and I have no idea what height I'll top out at."

Goodwitch looks incredulous, saying, "You understand that this sounds ridiculous, right?"

"You said much the same about my pyromancy, remember?"

"Be that as it may-"

Ignis, at this point, interrupts. "FINE. Fine. Fine. You want proof, like last time. I know, because not even the gods know the last time you brats studied your history. Fine. You win, I'll demonstrate. Hopefully, I can shrink back afterwards."

Having said that, he removes his gauntlets before undoing the straps of his greaves, letting them fall to the ground with a crash. After that, he actively stops his aura from flowing outwards, forcing it to flow through him like it was meant to. Again, he feels his joints pop as he begins to grow. Swiftly, he reaches a height he wasn't expecting; all of ten and a half feet tall. With a distinctly deeper and more gravelly voice, he says "Well, this is certainly less than I expected. In any case, I presume you see what I mean? Walking around at this height isn't really condusive to being able to go through doors." Picking up his axe again, he says, "Now, shall we continue to fight?"

The silence that greeted his answer was deafening. Like an oppressive blanket, the still air conveyed no sounds as all in the arena stared, wide eyed and opened mouthed at Ignis. Suddenly, as if cued by the whims of a mad god, four people walked into the arena; Ozpin, Ironwood, Oobleck, and the Nurse (who had yet to divulge his name). Each reaction was different. Ozpin, upon seeing Ignis, briefly displays shock before forcing his face to assume a deadpan (which promptly breaks into a highly amused grin upon seeing Goodwitch's and Ironwood's faces). Oobleck himself doesn't actually seem that phased; he simply grabs a notebook out of his pocket and starts scribbling notes into it. Ironwood is simply staring, as if he cannot understand the basic concept of what he was seeing. The nurse, however, had by far the best reaction.

"What the ACTUAL FUCK were you doing, dumping that much aura into a _dust filled grenade_?" he hollers at Ignis.

"Trying _not_ be this tall," Ingis responds blithely.

"By catching a dust grenade in the gut? Why the hell didn't you dodge?"

Hearing that, Ignis points to the grenade behind him, saying, "I did. See?"

"I see one dodged grenade. Why didn't you dodge the other two, you giant retard?"

"I didn't know that there was a third. I figured that there would only be two, and that I could use the one I caught."

The nurse gives Ignis a stare that openly questions his sanity, before sighing and saying, "Nope. Stupid Limit reached. Anyways, see if you can shrink before more people show up, I don't want anyone else going into shock like Irondong here."

At that, Ironwood's head whips around before he says, "What did you call me?"

"I called you Irondong. I had to get your attention off of the giant idiot."

Tuning out the developing argument between who will eternally be called Irondong and the nurse, Ignis closes his eyes and reaches for his soul and bears it outward once more, radiating it out. Fortunately, it works perfectly, and he immediately shrinks back to his original size of a little over seven feet tall. When he opens his eyes, what he sees startles him greatly. It was an orange, glowing, flame-like blob of energy the size of a grapefruit...

Ruby calls out, "Ignis? Is that..."

"Yes," he replies, his voice breathless but otherwise back to its normal baritone.

"What? What is it?" Weiss asks.

Ignis is simply struck silent by what he sees, and doesn't respond. Yang, however, responds, "That, Weiss, is his soul."


	15. Chapter 15

"Okay, so let me get this straight... Ignis has condensed his aura and externalized his soul. People like huntsmen and huntresses, who naturally have larger souls through constant use of aura, can do this as well, although they cannot detach it from wherever they externalize it, except to reinternalize it. The average size of a soul is a golf ball for the average hunter. You two have souls the size of small apples, and even though Yang knows why, she refuses to tell me. Yang, if I'm getting the implication right, Ignis knows why as well... but he's currently in a stupor, so we aren't going to get a lot out of him. Speaking of Ignis, the largest soul either of you ever saw before seeing his was the size of a large apple. His is the size of a rather large grapefruit, and neither of you know why. Am I missing anything?" Weiss asks, annoyance plain on her face.

"No," Ruby answers, relieved.

"Ok. So, can anyone explain why he's just staring at it? I know he has solid forms of aura, why is this any different?" Weiss asks.

Surprisingly enough, Ignis answers, "Because of its size and color, Weiss. The is one of the largest souls I have ever seen, if not _the _largest, not counting the Lord Souls."

"So, it's big. Why does that matter?"

"Several reasons, the least of which being that souls will increase in radiance before size as they get more powerful. Past that, its color; it's the color of flame."

"Again, so what?"

"To understand the answer, you must know what Fire brought with it when it entered the world. What do you think it brought?"

Weiss gives him a confused look before saying, "I don't know, light and warmth? What does it matter?"

"Partial answers are marked partially correct... Fire did bring those into the world, but it brought more than that. It brought Disparity. Heat, and Cold. Life, and Death. And of course, Light, and Dark. When Fire entered the world, it brought with it the Disparity that gave us the ability to compare and contrast. I find this to be beautiful beyond measure, simply because of what it is; a physical, visible representation of every metric by which one can measure beauty. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this represents literally everything that one can behold and attribute beauty to. It's... quite entrancing..."

"In any case," Ozpin says, making his presence known, "we must continue with your initiation. The duel between you and team JNPR has ended, and you have been declared victor; the explosion knocked Pyrrha Nikos into the red, Lie Ren was knocked out entirely, Jaune Arc was knocked into the yellow, and Nora Valkyrie is beside herself worrying over Ren, resulting in all but one of them - Mr. Arc - being unable to fight effectively. Mr. Arc himself has withdrawn. As such, the next portion of the initiation will take place in the Forever Fall Forest. We leave in thirty minutes, so grab your armor."

With that, Ozpin walked off.

**[LINE BREAK]**

"This is the Forest of Forever Fall, named for the trees that give the feeling of eternal autumn," Goodwitch tells Ignis. "It is filled with grimm, mainly ursae that are drawn by the tree's sap, although beowolves and boarbatusks are also known to inhabit the areas near the walls. You will find many grimm within this forest; they will grant you no quarter, so grant none in return. Deep within the forest, to the east, there is a large clearing. Within this clearing, you will find a relic guarded by several grimm. Retrieve it and return. Do you understand your mission?"

"Go to the clearing, grab the relic, kill everything hostile in between. Have I forgotten anything?" Ignis responds.

"No."

"Alright then. I'll see you lot when I get back," he says to teams RWBY and JNPR.

Tuning out Weiss asking someone on JNPR about why they followed RWBY (and making it a point to remember to bring up the irony of her commenting on them following RWBY following him), Ignis walks into the forest. Extending his senses, he feels everything around him; the souls of the people behind him fading in the distance, the warmth of the air, the serenity of the falling leaves. He continues to walk until something invades his senses that stops him cold; something he hasn't felt since before his last time in the Kiln. For the first time in tens, if not hundreds of thousands of years, he feels purified dark condensed into a physical form. However, it is noticeably different from the pursuers within the abyss; while they had (even pitifully small) souls, this dark had no souls to speak of.

Ignis could only think of one darkness that had no soul, and that was the darkness he stripped from humanity. Whatever this solidified dark _was_, it was safe to assume that it was directly caused by his actions within the kiln. If these were grimm, then his actions were possibly the cause of all of humanity's suffering since the grimm appeared. If these were grimm, then Ignis had made a grave miscalculation that humanity was _still_ paying for. Ignis found this quite upsetting.

As if sensing his turmoil, the dark changed direction and made a beeline straight for Ignis. With a snarl, it broke through the underbrush and attacked, raking its very solid claws across Ignis's Golem armor. _'More differences from the pursuers, it seems. At least they were gaseous,' _Ignis thought as he blocked another attack on his massive shield before bashing the next attack away with a crack of the bone in its arm. _'Although, these seem far more fragile, and don't seem to use any forms of lifedrain as their main form of attack, so that's a plus.'_

Bashing again to break the other arm, Ignis swings his Obsidian Ultra-Greatsword when the vaguely lupine monster attempts to bite Ignis. Cutting through the monster like so much air, the sword passes through easily before smashing into the ground as the two halves begin to fall away from each other. Pulling his sword out of the broken ground, he places it easily on his shoulder and begins walking forward again, before hearing a loud howl come from seemingly every direction at once. Expanding his senses once again, he feels more presences of the dark, all rushing him. Acting fast and without thinking, he channels his pyromancy and casts a chaos storm.

Gouts of fire burst from the ground all around him, incinerating many of the dark beasts. Soon, the flames sputtered out as the pyromantic energy giving the flames form ran out, leaving large pools of lava scattered about Ignis. Fortunately for Ignis, it seemed that the dark beings were about as smart as a brainless hollow; of the five dark beasts that were outside of the area the firestorm hit, four of them ran straight in, ending up neck deep in lava for the few seconds they retained their lives. The only surviving member of the beast pack, the largest, decided that fleeing was the best option and attempted to leave.

Of course, Ignis wasn't having any of that, and with a leaping slash, he clove the monster in two.

Turning back, Ignis was rather surprised to find that the lava didn't spawn any chaos demons. _'It seems that when my soul is externalized, like it is now, the pyromancy behaves as it should... that makes life easier,'_ Ignis thinks to himself as he begins walking again, leaving the rapidly cooling pools of lava behind him.

A few more forms of the dark beasts made their presence known over the course of the walk, including a monster that looked like an armored tusk and span like a wheeled skeleton, much to Ignis's horror. Fortunately, the beasts were easily dispatched; Ignis's horror at the boar monster quickly became elation when he realized they could be kicked like a ball, which reduced the few he had tried that on to a swiftly moving paste that further dissolved into a dark mist before dissipating altogether. As Ignis traveled further into the forest, the number of attacks quickly dropped off as the number of dark presences he sensed became fewer in number, as if the beasts were either fearfully avoiding him or where he was going.

After about ten minutes of walking with no attacks from the beasts, he breaks through the underbrush and into the clearing. Gazing out, he gets a good look at whatever enemies he must face... only to throw back his unhelmeted head and laugh, harder than he has in a long time. Four massive, mint green wings? Two horns entwined in a spiral? An odd, crystal ring on its back? Over a dozen long, sinewy tails?

This was no grimm.

This was a Moonlight Butterfly.


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N START: THIS CHAPTER WILL FEATURE DIFFERING POINTS OF VIEW. ONCE AGAIN, THIS HAS NO BEARING ON THE PERMANENT POINT OF VIEW, WHICH WILL REMAIN WITH IGNIS AT A THIRD PERSON LIMITED LEVEL.**_

_**FURTHER, IGNIS WILL BE KILLING THE MOONLIGHT BUTTERFLY (AGAIN), BECAUSE HE LIKES THEM LIKE HE LIKES HIS COFFEE: DEAD, AND LIQUIFIED.**_

_**A/N END.**_

The moment Ignis had passed into the clearing and burst into genuine, mirthful laughter, _especially _after his reaction to the grimm he had seen, Ruby found herself with a not-so-sneaking suspicion that something was horribly wrong. "Professor Goodwitch? What is Ignis supposed to be fighting?" she asks.

"He should be fighting a group of ursae led by two majors. Why?" Goodwitch responds.

Ruby, however, is convinced that whatever Ignis saw in the clearing, it wasn't ursae. "Are you sure that they're still in the clearing? Judging from his reactions to the grimm, I don't think seeing a group of them would inspire that laughter..."

"I see... I admit, this reaction is different from his previous ones. Perhaps the grimm left?" Goodwitch wonders as she checks her scroll. Upon seeing what had Ignis laughing, however, a look of open puzzlement crosses her features. "That isn't supposed to be there... I need to call Port." Having said that, she dials his number, and says, "Hello, Peter? There is a beast in the Forever Fall that I can't say I recognize, do you think you could identify it for me? It has four long, green wings, a dual pronged horn that entwines... yes, it has over a dozen tails and a ring, why? WHAT? Okay, get here as fast as you can; bring Ozpin. I'll get the students back to the school."

Hanging up, she addresses the students, "Students, get back to the bullhead and head back to the school."

"What? Why?"

"Because, Mr. Arc, there is a beast that can petrify people with an unknown number of its attacks, and I can't keep you all safe. I will go retrieve Ignis before-"

"**GET YOUR RAGGEDY ASS BACK DOWN HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN YOU OVER SIZED BUG!"** Ignis bellows in the distance, clearly in combat and upset over a lack of ranged options.

"He does something stupid. Like this," Goodwitch finishes lamely before sprinting off into the woods after Ignis.

**[LINE BREAK, POV CHANGE]**

Ignis was having a bad time. While the Moonlight Butterfly, and by extension the crystal butterflies all had a notorious weakness to lightning and sunlight, Ignis had left his talisman in his dorm room.

Of course, this was only exacerbated by the fact that the beast seemed to have no need to land. To make matters worse for Ignis, this particular butterfly seemed to have an innate talent for weaving around the fireballs using all four of its wings in tandem, and as skilled as he was with fire, his attacks with it were generally area of effect attacks, so he never bothered with learning how to make them home in on enemies. The result?

The overgrown butterfly was able to attack with impunity, for Ignis had no ranged attacks to speak of that were too fast to dodge or were able to track the enemy.

And this pissed Ignis off to no end. "**GET YOUR RAGGEDY ASS BACK DOWN HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN YOU OVER SIZED BUG!**" he shouted as loud as he could, as if the beast would obey.

And lo, as if it were taunting him, it dipped low, just enough to-

"HAA!**"** Ignis shouted as he threw a chaos fireball, only for the beast to nimbly dodge around it and launch a group of strange green orbs that began chasing him.

"GODS DAMMIT!" Ignis swore as he began dodging the orbs.

Managing to dodge all but one of them (which caught him right on the bruise left by the 'concussive' grenades and knocked him to the ground, which in turn hurt like when he got his chest caved in by the Asylum Demon's buttpound), he clambered to his feet just in time to dodge several needles fired off by the butterfly. Landing with a clank as he bounced off stone he- stone?

'_Oh, this might work,_' Ignis found himself thinking as he rapidly formed a plan. And what a plan it was... '_Okay, so I rip this stone up, dump a few small souls into a chaos combustion into the stone, and throw the whole thing. Best case scenario, the whole thing explodes into a massive blob of lava all over the damn moth. Worst case, demons pop out mid air, catch the moth, and rip it apart. What could possibly go wrong?_' he thought to himself as he placed his sword and shield on his back before gripping the small boulder with both hands.

With a massive heave and a grunt, Ignis ripped the boulder out of the ground, bringing it over his head, reminiscent of the Barbarians that called the Blighttown swamps their home. Dropping two souls of nameless soldiers into his chaos infused combustion, he cast it directly _into_ the massive stone before throwing the whole thing at the butterfly with a furious roar.

The results were the best of both scenarios. As it began to dodge, he willed the chaos to burst forth... and burst forth, it did. With a massive explosion, raw chaos lava burst from the stone on the side of the stone nearest the butterfly, coating it in lava. To make matters worse for the beast, two rather small capra demons burst from the stone, each grabbing a pair of wings as if trying to rip them straight from its back.

With its only means of flight occupied by a serious case of being torn apart by angry demons, the butterfly began falling to the ground. Casting some form of fall control as it fell, it impacted the ground in a strangely soft manner, ringing oddly as it struggled weakly against the demons on its back bringing it utter ruination. Striding up to it, Ignis draws his sword in both hands. With a heaving swing, the sword cuts through the butterfly's 'head' crystal with ease, killing it. Looking up, he brings out his shield as he sees something that he honestly expected; two capra demons rushing him with the blatant intent to kill him. Fortunately for Ignis, both were unarmed, resulting in the fight being easier than when he fought demons back in the ruins. Dodging a punch and blocking a kick on his shield, he swings his sword in an arc, cutting the over-extended arm off of the one demon before sinking the sword deep into the hip of the second demon. With a vicious rending motion, he rips the sword out of the second demon, nearly bisecting it as he brings his sword back onto his shoulder. Turning to the first (and remaining) demon, he is honestly surprised to find it swinging its disembodied arm like a club at him. Blocking the improvised weapon on his shield, he bashes it into the demons remaining arm, breaking it. As it roared more in fury at being rendered incapacitated than in pain of its arm, he swung once more, decapitating the beast.

Turning back to look through the clearing for the relic he was meant to grab as the aura/soul energy was absorbed into him, he sees something that fills him with dread; the kind of dread only a man can feel. He sees an extremely angry woman glaring at him.


	17. Chapter 17

Needless to say, the ride back to Beacon was an absolute _blast_ for Ignis. Totally.

Apparently, Goodwitch had confused the Moonlight Butterfly with a monster that could curse and petrify its enemies, and had called Port and Ozpin to help kill it after sending teams RWBY and JNPR back. Of course, she was obligated to save Ignis from the _horrible_ monster, and she sprinted off to help him after sending the students back. Funnily enough, she arrives on the scene just in time to find a dead Moonlight Butterfly, along with Ignis and two Capra Demons playing a light hearted game of killing each other.

Naturally, this made her upset, and she was more than willing to make this known to Ignis on the trip back to Beacon. "What the HELL were you thinking, taking on a Crystal Moth like that? Those things can petrify you!" she hollers at him.

Giving her a perplexed look, Ignis refutes, "No, they can't. Their creator, Seath the Scaleless, never gave them the ability to do so, and considering his area of expertise, I don't think he gave them the ability to change enough to learn how to petrify. Also, they're called Moonlight Butterflies or Crystal Butterflies."

Giving him a glare that could intimidate a dragon, she says, "And how would you know this, hmm? Have you fought the Crystal Moths before?"

"Yes, I have. One of them used to inhabit the Darkroot Garden before I killed it, and you could always find several in the Crystal Caverns due to Seath's experiments. I've killed quite a few, and not one of them ever had the ability to curse or petrify. Also, again, they are Butterflies, not Moths," Ignis answers. "The only beasts I can think of that can inflict curses or petrifaction that could still be around are the basilisks. What made you think that the Crystal Butterflies could petrify?"

Goodwitch answers, "Professor Port has fought them. Peter?"

"Indeed, I have, once upon a dreary time. I don't often tell the story, due to the facts that the beasts are not grimm and as such do not fall under my class of Grimm Anatomy along with the fact that the entirety of my original team, save for myself, is believed to have been petrified in a fight with a single one of those beasts. You are certain that they cannot petrify?" Port asks.

Ignis responds, "If they can, they never bothered using the ability on me. Again, the only beasts I can think of that could petrify are... if you don't mind my asking, did you see any frog like creatures that had massive organs on their faces in the area you found your team? They could exhale a grey mist, and the organs were eerily reminiscent of the eyes of a week or two old corpse, if that helps."

Port looks surprised as he answers, "I did, although I did not witness them exhale any mist and they fled not long after I arrived. It was as soon as the 'Butterfly', as you say, crested the hill. Why?"

"Because those frog creatures are basilisks, and they can freely curse and petrify those who inhale a sufficient amount of the grey mist they breathe out. If you encountered them at the area your team was found, then they are more than likely the culprits. Anyway, how did you kill the butterfly, if you did?"

Port answers, "I was initially using burn dust, but I switched to thunder dust rounds in my weapon. It seemed to take more damage from the thunder dust. Why?"

"Semi-professional curiosity. Also, in case you ever fight them again, Moonlight and Crystal Butterflies are _hilariously _weak to Lightning, to say nothing of weaponized Sunlight. If I had my talisman during that fight, I could have killed or crippled the beast with a single Sunlight Spear, more than likely. I'm not even boasting; the butterflies are _that_ weak to it," Ignis answers.

**[LINE BREAK]**

After making it back to Beacon (and recovering his talisman and undergoing a GLORIOUS shower), Ignis decides to see about checking out the library again. On his way, he feels something he had never recalled feeling before: he feels his stomach begin to gurgle and hurt slightly as it released a strange growling sound. Confused, he sent a flash of the aura he absorbed from the moonlight butterfly to the area in order to heal whatever was hurting.

Noticing no actual changes past the bruise around the area beginning to heal, Ignis decides that his study of Aura techniques were going to wait in favor of figuring out what was ailing him. Walking in to the library, he sees a different attendant who looks absolutely riveted to her e-scroll. "Excuse me lass, but could you point me to the section that includes a list and description of common ailments of the stomach?" Ingis asks.

"Aisle eleven, close to the corner," the attendant answers in a dreary tone, not even bothering to look up.

Perplexed by the impersonal response, Ignis half-questioningly says, "Err, thanks, I think?" Before wandering over to the aforementioned aisle in order to begin his research. Upon finding the section of the aisle he was searching for, he begins to look for any books that could have the information he seeks.

After about an hour of searching and reading several books while his stomach made its displeasure known all the while, he decides that whatever ails him is either so basic or rare enough that the authors decided to leave it out of the books. Replacing them in the same area he found them, he begins to leave, only to nearly run into an irate Weiss.

"What is that infern-" Weiss whisper-shouts before seeing Ignis. "Oh, Ignis. Care to explain that raucous noise? It is really distracting to those of us that are try to study."

Ignis gave a dry laugh, saying, "The noise is being caused by my stomach, which is accompanied by a pain, as if my stomach is being compressed by something. As for how distracting it is, well, yeah, it is. I was going to study aura techniques in hopes of learning to keep my pyromancy from my soul when it's internalized, but all that went out the window when this started. Worst thing is that the books I studied had nothing on this ailment, so either it's really rare or so stupidly basic that it wasn't worth mentioning."

Hearing that, Weiss gives him a look that is half skeptical, half incredulous. "Okay, Ignis, what are the symptoms? Don't leave anything out," she says.

Ignis says, "Just what I said: my stomach hurts as if it is being compressed, it gurgles on occasion, and the gurgling is accompanied by a strange grumble or growl sound."

The expression on Weiss's face only intensifies as she says, "Okay. Ignis, when was the last time you had anything to eat?"

Ignis considers for a few seconds before asking, "Do mosses count? Or parasitic egg vermifuges?" Upon seeing the shake of her head, Ignis answers, "Then I cannot say. I don't recall ever actually eating anything besides moss clumps and the moldy chestnuts I used as the vermifuge."

The skepticism on her face intensifies for a bit as Weiss half glares at Ignis. Finding no evidence of falsehood, her skepticism melts away as blank incredulity shows on her face. "Oh my god. You're hungry," she says.

Disbelief crosses his features as Ignis says, "What? No, I can't be... Gwyn's Beard. Of _course_. This is _exactly_ how Solaire described being hungry. Gods, I'm dumb... In any case, do you know where I can get food?"


	18. Chapter 18

"Ignis, why are you still eating? Wait, no, HOW are you still eating? That was your fourth plate!" Weiss exclaims.

"Weiss, what would happen if you went a few thousand years without eating actual food?" Ignis counters.

"I would probably die of starvation at three or four weeks, like most people."

"Yeah, well, I didn't. As such: I'm hungry. Let me eat, dammit," Ignis gripes as he begins eating another burger. "In any case, where is everybody? I would expect the place that trains Humanity's first and last lines of defense to have a few more trainees."

"Most of us are out on missions. The first years are all here until Armistice Anniversary. On the anniversary, they all take their first official missions as Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. For the rest of us, we can take missions depending on year: second years can take one a month, third years two, and fourth years three. So long as we can keep our grades up, that is. If a team member is failing a class, the entire team is unable to take missions," Weiss explains.

"Sounds needlessly complicated."

Weiss grimaces at that, saying, "And that's before I get into the requests."

Hearing that, Ignis grimaces as well, saying, "Oh gods, they _still_ do that?"

"What do you mean 'still'? Weren't you trapped in a cave for the past however many thousand years?" Weiss asks incredulously.

"Yes, and that only makes it worse. To hear Solaire tell it, way back when, in Astora, towns could petition the lords to have knights sent to do certain jobs, mostly slaughtering beasts and bandits. Of course, the lords decided that politics were more important than their people's suffering, or so I'm told, and would petition the King for having an Elite Knight sent in the regular knight platoon's stead. According to Solaire, the sheer amount of requests the Elite Knights were inundated with would have made him decline if his 'oaths to the Warriors of Sunlight' hadn't."

"Were the elites really that good?" Weiss asks, her incredulity morphing into bewilderment.

"That good? They were _better_," Ignis says. "They were good enough that there were only four men I have ever heard of that were actually given that chance to be declared an Elite: Knight Pharis, Knight Oscar, Knight Solaire, and the Prince Ricard. Of those four, only three of them accepted and were given the Armor of the Elite Knight, which was so rarely seen that it was rumored to be enchanted to slay those who were unworthy of it."

"And was it?" Weiss asks.

Ignis laughs and says, "Probably not. It didn't kill me, at any rate."

"Wait, you've worn the armor? Where did you get it?"

"I found it on Pharis's corpse in the Darkroot Garden. I took it to be cleaned and repaired, then wore it as my own. Andre's eyes almost bugged out of his sockets when I put it on and didn't die. It really was quite funny." Ignis said, smiling. "Honestly, I would wear that armor now, but between the surcoat being ruined, the discoloring of the metal, and the rends and tears in the metal, I'll need it professionally repaired before I can wear it again."

"I see. Will you have your emblem placed on the surcoat?" Weiss asks.

Ignis looks up from his food and stares blankly before saying, "What emblem?"

Hearing that, Weiss gives him a disbelieving stare. "What do you mean, 'what emblem'?" she asks, incredulity apparent in her voice once more.

"Exactly what I said. I have heard nothing about these emblems before."

Weiss sighs before explaining, "Huntsmen and Huntresses are very much encouraged to have unique emblems so they can be recognized by the civilian masses. Remember what you said about us being 'humanity's first and last lines of defense'? It helps humanity feel more secure when they can see that a professionally trained hunter is in the area. While some, like Pyrrha, prefer to go incognito due to _how_ famous they are in certain circles, most openly wear their emblems. Some few even make merchandise that bears their emblem. While it isn't necessarily 'required' to have an emblem, Huntsmen and Huntresses are 'strongly encouraged' to have one."

"If that's the case, then yes, I will have my emblem on my surcoat..." Ignis says thoughtfully. "Hmm, what to make it... Oho! Yes, that is a grand idea, I think I have a decent handle on what it will be."

"And that is?" Weiss asks.

Ignis laughs and says, "Here's a hint: those who know the truth will be able to see its real meaning."

**[LINE BREAK]**

After the late and extended lunch, Ignis and Weiss returned to the library, only to find the rest of team RWBY and all of team JNPR playing an odd game. As Weiss broke off to presumably go be with her team, Ignis once again approached the book-keepers desk. "Excuse me again, lass," he asks, "but do you have any blank paper?"

Once again, the current attendant remains studiously devoted to her e-scroll as she points and says, "Over there, by the printer."

"Thanks," Ignis says as he walks over to what he assumes was the printer. Grabbing a few blank sheets of paper, he then walks over to a table and grabs a piece of charcoal from his pouch. Sitting down, he begins to sketch his emblem, starting with the most important part, something that everybody that knew the truth about the formation of humanity would recognize instantly. Just as his journey began with undeath, so too would his emblem begin with what marks it: The Darksign, complete with three thin gouts of flame, each one aimed straight up, starting at the three uppermost compass points.

Finishing the circle and the three flames, he then drew two Sunlight Spears, one Northeast to Southwest, the other Northwest to Southeast, each crossing out the darkness within the circle. Next, he adds five effigies of the Gravelord's Sword on the lower compass points, each pointing outward in its cardinal direction, curving downward. Finally, he draws chaos roots around the circle of the Darksign, making them as lifelike as he could. All in all, it seemed somewhat flashy, but anyone that knew the truth of the ages past would see it for what it truly was: an homage to the Four Lords.

"What's that supposed to be?" A voice that Ignis doesn't recognize asks.

"This," Ignis says, holding the paper without turning, "is my emblem, or will be when I get a new surcoat. Also, I don't believe we've been introduced, Ms..." Turning to see who he's speaking to, he sees a girl with brown clothes, sunglasses, and a strange kind of hat he doesn't recognize.

"Coco Adel. Who are you?" she asks with confidence bordering on brashness.

"I'm called Ignis by friends."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"What _is_ your question, then?"

"I don't recognize you, and I know the face of everyone that's a student here. Which begs the questions: who are you, and why are you here?" Coco asks brazenly.

"Again, I am called Ignis by friends. As for why I'm here, I'm apprenticing under Doctor Oobleck until I have a better grip on the history and culture of the world."

"History and _culture_? Why?"

"Let's just say that I'm not from any of the four kingdoms." Ignis says, amusement lacing his voice.

"Even then, huntsmen and huntresses patrol the areas outside of the kingdoms, and they always share what's happening in the kingdom with the villages they come across."

"Exactly. They share with the _villages_. I'm not from a village outside the kingdoms. My first contact with this culture was when Team RWBY stumbled upon me in a cave while they were guarding an archaeological dig," Ignis explained in a deliberately vague manner.

"And you just happened to speak the same language?" Coco asks, doubt clear in her voice.

"After a fashion. My... abilities allow me to communicate freely with anyone or anything with a higher thought process. I'll need to experiment a bit to be sure, but I think it extends to all written forms of communication as well. I certainly haven't had any issues with reading anything, but I'm unsure if what I write can be read by anyone other that myself."

"You do realize how absurd this sounds, right? Because seriously, this sounds ridiculous," Coco says incredulously.

At that, Ignis laughs, saying, "Oh, story of my life right there. I'll be the first to admit, if I hadn't lived my life, I wouldn't have believed it happened. A steaming load of dragonshit is what it is, no two ways about it. Honestly, Tero was right, I should write a book..."


	19. Chapter 19

Finishing Coco's impromptu interrogation with even _more_ evasive technically-truths, much to her vexation, Ignis becomes a bit fed up with the sheer amount of doubt and says, "Look, I understand that you don't really believe me, that's fine. Go ask team RWBY or Dr. Oobleck if you want, I don't really care."

Coco, for her part, is keeping her face stoic even as her soul bares her rage for all to see. "I think I will, actually. Be seeing you around, 'friend'."

"Certainly," Ignis responds affably, much to her chagrin.

As she saunters off, Ignis goes over to the aura techniques section and grabs 'A Guide to the Soul's Flame' before sitting back down and beginning to read. _"The first thing you must understand about fire is that..."_

**[LINE BREAK]**

_'Well, that is both extremely helpful and utterly worthless,'_ Ignis thinks to himself as he sets the book down. _'Okay, so the basic rundown is that whenever I am radiating soul energy, it will infect my pyromancy. Ergo, I must either completely internalize or externalize my soul. In effect, I must either fight at full height and strength, or choose between pyromancy or aura... And that doesn't even factor in how Soul Sorceries are affected by this, gods DAMMIT.'_

Letting his head thump onto the table he is sitting at, he groans rather loudly as Yang walks up. "What's up? You sound like you just got sucker-punched," she says.

"That's because I just found out my ability to hold back while fighting has been hamstrung. Normally, I wouldn't care, but since non-lethal sparring is one of the requisite courses for my apprenticeship, this is a rather large problem," Ignis replies.

"Okay, so what's the problem? Maybe we can find a work around...?" Yang asks.

Ignis gives a tired sounding laugh, saying, "Ha, I wish. The problem is, I cannot keep my aura from infecting my pyromancy unless I am directly internalizing it or completely externalizing it. So, I can either use aura and not use pyromancy, or use pyromancy while the vast majority of my soul is externalized like it is now. Third choice is fight at full height and strength, and I don't trust myself to be able to hold back much like that. Fourth choice is to make chaos demons with every pyromantic attack, and even if _I_ hold back, we can be certain that the demons won't."

"Do you really need any of that in sparring, though?" Yangs questions.

"What do you mean?"

"In your spar with JNPR, you fought two of the best sword-n-boards in my year at once. With a weapon you admit to being rusty with. Alone. Without actually getting hit meaningfully once, until Ren jumped in and cut off your armor."

"Okay? What of it?"

"Do you really need both? Because you did just fine in a four on one using only your admittedly rusty skills and aura," Yang says.

Hearing that, Ignis looks up, confusion evident. "I was using aura? How? When? Aargh, I need to study this-"

Yang interrupts with, "What do you mean, 'how and when'? Weren't you using it to lift that monster ax and wear that armor?"

"I've been able to do that for far longer than I've had unlocked aura, Yang. Why would you think that I needed aura to wield either of those?"

"Because of how stupidly heavy they are? Nora said the chest plate was almost a hundred pounds, and she couldn't even lift the ax to get a feel for its weight."

"So?"

"So, Nora couldn't lift your ax. The only person stronger than Nora I can think of is Coco Adel, and they both use aura to augment their strength. If Nora can't lift your ax _with_ aura, then how can you lift it _without_ aura, let alone _swing it with one hand_?"

"I'll explain later, somewhere... less public."

"Okay..." Yang sighs, exasperated. "So, big guy, how'd you piss off Coco?"

Ignis laughed at that before saying, "She was curious as to why I was here. As her questions became more pointed, my answers became more evasive. While I didn't lie at all, I was making it a point to give her as little information as I could by the end."

"But why bother?"

"She rubbed me the wrong way. I'm not saying she's always like this, but her questioning was bizarrely similar to how Catarinan hunters would question suspects. Or at least, bizarrely similar to how Siegmeyer described their questioning. Until I get a better idea about her personality, I'd rather her not know certain things-"

"Like you being undead?" Coco asks as she walks up.

Ignis sighs and says, "Formerly, and among other things. Ruby told you, I take it?"

"Yes."

"Great. Yang, would you regale Ruby and the rest of everyone that knows of me with the values of secrecy? I would, but Coco and I need to talk this out before this simple, easily rectified misunderstanding becomes an terrible, unfixable mistake," Ignis says with a hard voice.

"Uhh, sure, okay..." Yang says uncertainly before walking off.

"You ask I answer, then I ask, you answer. No lies, outright or through omission from either side. You fine with that?" Ignis asks. At her nod, he sighs out, "Ask, then."

"Are you a threat?" Coco asks bluntly.

"I'm going to need you to clarify in what way before I answer."

"Are you near hollowing?"

At that, Ignis laughed hard. "Ahahaha, am I near hollowing... Not anymore, no. I was before I finally figured out how to finish my quest permanently, but in this new time, having finished it, I have the whole world before me. Better yet, my hobby is a highly regarded profession. Now, you seem to be informed about undeath, especially considering the amount of ancient history you lot actually recall. How?"

"Last year, my team and I were on a mission out in the wilds to clear a cavern of grimm. The cavern itself was small, but the grimm had broken into another, significantly larger cavern, one we couldn't collapse without damaging the town we were defending, so we had to sweep the entire cave. In the cave, we found some ruins that contained writings which detailed the evil of the undead, and how a single undead could wipe out entire towns if they went hollow. It sounded more like a work of fiction than anything else, so I discounted it until I found a legend that stated an undead named Balder went either insane or hollow and wiped out a city on a mission to a different town, out near Mistral. I did more research, and found a lot of legends from Atlas involving the concept of undeath, far more than would seem reasonable without some truth to bind them all together, one of which was what happens when an undead hollows. Anyways, why did you need me to clarify when I asked if you were dangerous?"

Ignis responds with, "Have you ever seen how skilled a swordsman can be if they have decades to hone their craft?"

"I thought you said-"

"Its part of my answer. Have you? Or a sorcerer?"

"Yes, I saw Goodwitch slaying grimm with flicks of her riding crop last year. It was quite impressive, considering how durable they are."

Ignis manages to disguise his snort at the grimms 'durability' as a cough before saying, "Imagine that level of ability. It took them decades, perhaps a lifetime to get it, right? Imagine if someone had no feasible limit to the amount of time they could study, hone, and practice their craft, if someone had a body that not only didn't age, but was already far stronger than the human average. That's what an undead is: someone with unlimited time to practice and a body that won't wither away so long as their mind doesn't. It's part of why undead were so feared, really; hollows operate on muscle memory and the desire to claim the life and soul of any non-hollowed being they detect. If an undead had or attained superhuman abilities with the blade, with sorcery, or with just about anything that could be used in combat, they were feared because once they hollow, they would bring to bare all of their prowess against those around them in order to kill indescriminately. Considering that a single, relatively weak undead could wipe out a village once hollow, it was no surprise that the more fearful and less logical monarchs resorted to undead hunters to 'keep the populace safe'."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"No, I suppose it doesn't... Why did I ask? Because I have had hundreds, if not thousands of years to increase my martial prowess and hone my martial skills, pyromancy, and miracle-work. While I won't hollow anytime soon, if ever, if I actually set my mind to doing something, there is very little that could be done to prevent me from doing it without costing more than what would be gained form preventing my actions, making me 'dangerous' in the same way all powerful warriors are. There's more to it, but I don't want to talk about it here. It ties to what Yang was asking me, so when I tell her, I'll tell you as well. In any case, how could you read the writings? If they are what I think they are, those writings would be well over two hundred thousand years old."

She didn't expect so high a number, if her expression is to go by. "Really?" she says, "It looked like it was in Vytalic... well, that explains why Yatsuhashi had some problems with reading it. That 'language' you talked about earlier may be the same language as the writings. Anyway, when I was questioning you earlier, did you lie at all?"

Ignis laughs and says, "Not once, though I became more evasive as time went on. Why?"

"Because that explains a lot of what you were saying. It certainly explains you never coming into contact with the current cultures... wait, when you said they found you in a cave while guarding an archaeological dig, did you mean like you met in a cave system, or did they dig you up?"

"Some of one, some of the other; I was in a 'cave' per se, but it was utterly sealed off from where they were, and I later heard that the largest opening into the area was four inches wide at most. They used some... burn dust, I think, and blew up the wall, breaking into the Kiln. If Weiss's shouting was anything to go by, they used it wrong. Either way, they blew up the wall and woke me up. You should have seen Weiss when Ruby called out only for me to answer; I don't think I've ever seen someone shoot water out of their nose in such a dignified manner. Regardless, why were you so, well, inquisitive? There comes a point where you pass from curiosity into outright suspicion, and it seemed like you crossed that line at a sprint and kept going for quite a ways."

At that, Coco sighs, saying, "Last year, when all the students arrived for the Vytal Festival, three criminals slipped in by disguising themselves as students from Haven. They ended up causing the Breach and disrupting the festival so badly that they canceled the Tournament, all without getting caught. Things came to a head when RWBY caught them trying to assassinate the Valean Council so that the leader of the group could try to claim the Vacant Throne. They got JNPR and my team involved, and the criminals tried to drag the White Fang into it. Most of them left the criminals out to dry, but some of the higher ranking members joined in the fighting and things quickly went to hell. One of JNPR's guys, Lie Ren, got his throat slit in the battle, Weiss was almost killed, and Yatsu had to get a prosthetic left arm, which is _still_ giving him trouble from time to time. So yeah, I was and am suspicious."

Hearing that, Ignis sighs and says, "I see. You were suspicious because of personal experience. I admit, I would have done something similar in your place. The only thing I can fault you for is your brazenness: Next time, don't let them know you're on to them. If they don't think you're fishing for information, they're more likely to give something away, and if they suspect, they're liable to lie their hearts out. Really, all of you humans are like that."

At that, Coco gives him a strange look and asks, "Is it my question?" At his nod, she asks, "What do you mean, 'all of _you humans_'?"

Seeing her look, Ignis answers as best he can with, "Ah, shit."


	20. Chapter 20

After telling Yang to meet them on the roof after about fifteen minutes, Ignis and Coco went and grabbed enough food for Ignis and three teams. When Ignis asked Coco about the amount of food they were grabbing, she simply replied, "I know that Yang is going to bring her team, who are probably going to involve JNPR. Plus, I'm bringing my team in on this, in case they have questions that I don't know the answer to," before messaging her team about the meetup.

Once they got there, Ignis started out, "Okay, now that you lot are here, ground rules are thus: I may refuse to answer any questions I deem to have no point to, and I may do the same if I feel that the knowledge would be detrimental. If you leave to do something and come back, I will not recap. Lastly, and most importantly, none of what I share is to be discussed with anyone outside of myself or whoever is here without my permission; if you may be overheard, don't risk it, as I don't want this information getting out right now, if ever. I don't know who's on what side, and I don't want the wrong people hearing about either me or anything I mention. Got it?"

At their collective nods, he goes over what he told Coco while everyone else ate before saying, "Okay, now that you lot have that much, just... ask me questions, I guess. I'll answer to the best of my abilities, unless, well, I decide not to answer."

Of course, Coco is the first to ask a question, starting off with, "Are you human?" At the negative shake of his head, she either misses or disregards RWBY's quiet gasps and asks, "Faunus, then?"

His answer was surprising to JNPR and CFVY, to say the least. With a laugh, Ignis answers, "Same thing as humans, for all that it matters."

One of the first to recover was a member of team CFVY, a young man with dark skin, burnt orange hair, and stark white eyes. He asks, "Then what are you?"

"Name?"

"Fox Alistair. You going to answer?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What am I? No idea. Former undead, so certainly more than human and human no more, but as for _what_? No idea. Maybe I'm the same as the Silver Knights of old, maybe I'm a chaos being, maybe I'm a Primordial Pygmy like Manus was, I don't know. All I know is that I'm no human. Not anymore."

"Who's your hero?" Ruby asks. When everyone looks at her, she asserts, "Its a valid question!"

Ignis laughs before saying, "It is indeed. Who is my hero? I'm not sure I have one; once you reach a certain point, the heroism of others loses its luster, and you see your hero more as who they are, not what they are... If I had to decide, I would choose my friend, Solaire. Few others matched his indomitable strength, unerring skill, and none others matched his limitless and unwavering faith. He was always there to help with the most difficult of enemies, always ready to praise the sun, always ready to be that one friend that didn't desert you in your hour of greatest need... He was a good man."

"Was _he_ human?" Coco asks.

At that, Ignis laughs harder. "Ahahaha, that's a rather pointed question, isn't it? He wasn't human, no. You'll get nothing more out of me on that line of questioning."

"Well, Ruby already asked about you hero. Who do you hate?" Pyrrha asks.

"Who, or should I say what, I hate? I would have to say Darkwraiths."

"Why?" says the orange haired small one.

"Nora, right? Imagine if someone willingly discarded their soul and humanity in order to become a grimm and steal the life and souls from others. Would you, any of you, hate that wretched abomination?"

At the nods from the group, he continues, "Exactly. They are literally becoming the purest form of evil by choice. _That_ is what a Darkwraith is: someone who has cast aside their soul and humanity in order to steal the life, humanity, and souls from others. They taint the air they breath, the water the tread, the land the walk, just by their existence."

"What do you know of the legend of Balder?" the big one sitting next to Velvet said.

"Why? Oh, and what's your name?"

"Yatsuhashi Daichi."

"No answer for why? Very well, I don't particularly care... In the land of Balder lived a man known as Rendall. In his low birth, he trained for years, becoming increasingly skilled as time went on. Not even fully into adulthood, he was Knighted, the youngest in the land, ever. After years of service, he stayed his blade as a violent war of succession took the kingdom hold. It wiped out the entirety of the Royal Family, save one member... A young man named Rendall. You see, he was a bastard to the late king, kept secret by the seneschal should anything like the war happen. He was crowned, and upon his coronation, he proposed to marry a young barmaid he had been sweet on during his knighthood. His proposal was challenged by a fellow knight, whose name has since been lost. You see, the nameless knight was nursing unrequited feelings for the barmaid as well, and he had planned to marry her with her father's permission. Of course, Rendall could have had the man executed on the spot for any number of things, like offending the king, or insubordination, or other such royal reasons that the 'noble' court would have accepted without batting an eye. Instead, he accepted the challenge, and they fought to the death. Rendall won handily, and was married a week later. The nameless knight arose, undead, and began training. As time went on, Rendall and his beloved wife died of old age, his kids each serving as knights, trained like Rendall himself was. This tradition continued for nearly two hundred years, before the nameless undead made his move. In a single week, the undead came and fought each member of Rendall's line, killing each one in turn. By the time the undead was finished, the entirety of Rendall's line had been wiped out to the last. None were spared; young or old, sick or well, male or female, each one was murdered in a vicious mockery of the 'fair and honorable' combat that claimed the undead's original life. Once he completed his objective, he thought on his actions and what he would do next... and almost immediately hollowed, for he had finished what he had always intended to do and had no other reason to continue existing. In the ensuing rampage, over half of the standing army and three quarters of the knighthood had been slain. With no monarchy, no military leadership, and no one capable of taking over, the land was easy prey for bandits. By the time I began my exodus from the asylum, Balder as a kingdom was no more, having been destroyed by the actions of a single undead."

The group was stunned into silence. After a short time, Daichi asks, "Is the the legend as you knew it?"

Ignis merely sighs before saying, "No, that's what actually happened. Forgive me, I should have made that clear."

"That's horrible... I'm amazed they kept telling it as a legend, I can't think of any moral to it," Blake says.

Ignis merely laughs at that before saying, "I can. The moral is that 'If your cause is just, finish what you start. If it is impure, desist immediately, for it will only end in ruination.' Another moral is 'Don't start anything with an undead, because they are certainly able to hold grudges better than you.' I'm simply surprised it lasted this long; no living human remembered Balder as it was by the time I began my journey, and very few undead remembered it past that it was the justification for the undead hunters. In fact, the only reason I learned of it was because of some reading I did while imprisoned in the Duke's Archives. Any other questions? Its getting late, so this is the last call."

"Just one, Ignis," Yang says. "How did you get so strong?"

Ignis gives her a pointed stare and says, "I would really prefer it if as few people as possible knew the answer to that, Yang."

She doesn't back down, saying, "Well, that's to bad. The grimm aren't going away, and we need every advantage we can get."

Ignis then sighs before saying, "I guess I did promise you an answer. Ah well. What I'm about to say doesn't leave this group. At all. If any of you hear it from someone else, and they ask if you know this, deny it. Say it's absurd. Whatever you do, do NOT reveal this to anyone, because _no one_ will ever be able to use the methods I did without having already discarded their humanity or having it taken from them via undeath or worse. There are _no_ benefits from knowing this and several detriments, and the only reason I'm answering this is because my honor as a Warrior of Sunlight demands that I keep my promise. _No one can know_. Got it?"

At their nods, he says, "I don't doubt that you know this, but the soul is intrinsically linked to the body. It constantly generates soul energy, or aura as you call it now, while it is linked. Once death occurs, the soul usually flees, and the aura disperses. However, undead do not produce soul energy, as they are not alive to do so. Instead, they absorb it from their fallen enemies. While they do not absorb the soul itself, soul energy left in the body of the deceased is taken into the undead. It is for this reason that the Church of Thorolund named us 'Devourers of Souls'. Hypocrisy at its finest; the very gods they worshiped were quite blatant and open about their use of soul energy as currency. In any case, undead and higher beings, like demigods, demons, and the full gods were able to use excess soul energy to augment themselves in a method called 'Soul Reinforcement', permanently using up their soul's aural capacity, in exchange for a permanent increase in what they augmented. This wasn't a perfect thing, however; increasing any ability made the next increase more costly, and it grew more costly with each one. Over my travels and during my quest, I gained enough soul energy to permanently increase my base strength, dexterity, endurance, and vitality to where they are now, on top of my martial training."

"How much aura did you need to get to this level?" Blake asks.

"More than any mortal will ever generate in their lifetime, many times over. I won't answer past that. Now, I'm retiring for the night. See you lot on the morrow, pleasant dreams, all that stuff. Oh, and remember, _tell no one._"


	21. Chapter 21

The next six weeks passed as a creeping blur for Ignis. The school weeks went by as normally as they could for someone who was a non-combat apprentice instead of a student: history on the first day, grimm anatomy on the third, and nonlethal combat on the fifth, with the second and fourth days being free days. Why a non-combat apprentice needed a combat class wasn't touched upon by any of the professors, but Ignis couldn't bring himself to care too much. During those two free days, he would often study on his own or venture into the forests to train with his pyromancies, miracles, and the few soul sorceries he was able to reliably cast.

True to Quelana's book, he found that he couldn't adequately control his soul energy well enough to keep it from his pyromancy without fully externalizing his soul. He also found that if he had enough absorbed aura from hollowed souls or enemies (which wasn't all that much, maybe as much as a Proud Knight's soul's worth), that would also infect his pyromancy, much to his chagrin. However, as if to balance that out, he found several ways to make his fireball attacks home in on enemies. While the homing attacks were universally half as strong as the other attacks, they homed in with accuracy surpassed only by the pursuers, much to his pleasure.

Miracle wise, he hadn't changed all that much; lightning miracles and offensive sunlight miracles came to him as easily as they always had, while the rest of the miracles seemed to be slightly easier to invoke than he remembered when he had his aura internalized. He couldn't actually tell if that was him misremembering or if the flames changed his miraclework enough that he could unconsciously draw on his own soul energy to aid the miracles ever so slightly, but he never found a reason to care.

Sorceries, however, had by far the most startling changes. His Oolacilian sorceries weren't all that different: the biggest difference was that the effects wouldn't expire so long as one continuously added a negligible amount of aura, with the second biggest being that he had a greater control over what he imitated with chameleon dependent on the amount of aura he put into the initial casting. His other sorceries, however, were catastrophically altered. Where as he normally had a greater than average chance of flubbing the casting and therefore not actually doing anything besides wave his catalyst around, his aura would now begin to crystallize his skin when he cast his soul arrows. After a panic-ridden experience with near-crystalization, severe aura depletion, and ripping the skin off of the tips of his right hand fingers, he decided to forgo further testing in favor of simple caution. After all, if one of the most basic offensive sorceries began to crystallize his skin, the effects of more powerful sorceries were probably going to be stronger versions of whatever crystallized his skin (by his own logic, of course.)

Another problem he found was that any grimm within a certain distance seemed to know of his whereabouts as easily as he could sense theirs. While Ignis couldn't tell if it was his sensing them that caused them to sense him or if they could anyway, they often attacked with fervor once they realized that he knew they were there. While Oolacilian sorceries threw them off spectacularly, the sheer numbers they could bring to bare at times made hiding and guerrilla tactics a moot point on more than one occasion. Fortunately, the younger (and far more common) forms of grimm were often easily dispatched: they couldn't adequately cause him damage through his heavy armors, and a single swing from his greatsword was enough to cleave through three or four grimm at once. The less common forms, along with the older grimm, often proved to be quite challenging in numbers. With that knowledge, he couldn't accurately say whether he dreaded or eagerly awaited the battles with Elder Grimm and other such beasts.

On the scholastic front, he was having just as much joy and sorrow with his classes and apprenticeship as he was with his powers and combat. The nonlethal sparring class (which Goodwitch called 'dueling', much to his amusement) was rather boring: he would generally forgo volunteering to fight, and with the rumors spreading about his victory of the entirety of team JNPR (who tellingly did nothing to dispel these rumors), only a few challenged him more than once.

Grimm Studies was much more interesting, if only because of the impromptu lessons Port was required to give the class on defending noncombatants from grimm. While Ignis pulled a few good tidbits from the class itself, the grimm's fixation with him became a problem as they would disregard the student who was to kill it in order to attack him instead. Coupled with the fact that most of the grimm he was learning about were the more common ones, there wasn't much point in paying close attention past the periodic 'games of tag' as Nora one day called them. This did little to stop him from enjoying the bombastic teacher's overblown stories as he had with Solaire's and Siegmeyer's over-the-top stories, however.

In stark contrast, Ignis quickly found himself dreading history classes. When asked why he dreaded it so, a multitude of answers came forth, but they all boiled down to one overarching reason: Humanity had become pretty fucking retarded. Between the wars over stupid reasons like the intention to limit self expression, the legitimately toxic racism against the Faunus subrace, all of the forgotten history predating the grimm, and the complete over-reliance on Dust, Ignis was honestly beginning to wonder where along the line they became so unrepentantly, depressingly stupid. While he had faith that they could change for the better, he was beginning to fear what would happen if they stayed their course or changed for the worse.

But by far, the biggest problem he had so far (in his own opinion) was that he couldn't for the life of him find an armor-smith skilled enough to repair the Elite Knight's Armor he wore for so long.

**[LINE BREAK]**

"So let me get this straight: In the middle of the Faunus Rights Revolution, General Lagune tried to attack 'Fort Castle' at night... while it was held by a subrace of humanity noted for its night vision?" Ignis asks, incredulity lacing his voice.

"That is correct," Oobleck answers.

Ignis puts his head in his hands as he says, "Ashes and Damnation. How did someone so stupid become a general?"

"I don't know. I've heard some rumors suggesting that the other generals were sympathetic to the Faunus, while some other rumors range from blatant nepotism to Lagune being the only one willing to use underhanded tactics. Regardless, his mistaken assumption cost him the battle, which was regarded as the turning point in the war."

Ignis makes an unpleasant face as he grunts, saying, "Bah, enough of human stupidity, it depresses me. What of culture? I heard something from Coco a few weeks back or so about a 'Vytal Festival'. What is that?"

"Strange that you should mention that, its sister festival coming up soon. The Vytal Festival, along with its sister festivals, are international celebrations of life and culture. One occurs per year in a cycle, and each contain many different things. Shops often set up stands of local goods for revelers to browse, while restaurants set up booths to give out samples of local dishes. There are tournaments for those more inclined towards combat and dance, and galleries are set up for art and other forms of self expression. People travel from all over the world to go to the festivals, which changes locale with the different festivals. This year's festival is the Relinked Fires Festival, which is being held north, in Atlas. While we're on the topic of it, I will be traveling with the few students that are going to attend. You will be coming with me and attending as well," Oobleck says.

"Interesting, interes- wait, did you say 'Relinked Fires'? Wait, did you say I will be attending?! Do I have any say in this?"

"No, you don't."

"This is revenge for me writing my test answers in Scrawl, isn't it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. You're going because you are to learn about history and culture while apprenticed to me, and what better way to learn than by participation?"

"Right. And I'm secretly an accomplished sorcerer that can replicate Seath's breath attack with nothing more than a crooked stick."

"Sarcasm isn't going to change the fact that you're going. At least you get to participate in the tournament."

"Against a bunch of kids."

"Not necessarily. This year's tournament is singular enter-at-will; anyone who qualifies can enter, so long as they aren't barred from similar tournaments for a previous offense."

"That does little to set my mind at ease. Are there any other things I'll be doing as an apprentice? I'd rather avoid any surprises."

Oobleck looks thoughtful, before answering with, "Well, next semester you will be teaching a non-dueling combat class on fridays instead of attending combat classes."

"And when is next semester?"

"Today begins the last week of this semester. All of next week is a break, during which we will travel to Atlas. After that, you'll be teaching on fridays, until the end of the next semester."

"I see... why was I not informed earlier?"

"It had slipped my mind. There is a pre-established curriculum available. It should be easy enough to adapt your skills to it."

"You might be greatly underestimate the difficulty of learning my skills. Sorcery, Pyromancy, and Miraclework are not exact arts. Miraclework requires faith, and faith cannot be taught. Pyromancy requires a pyromantic flame, and one requires a deep adoration of fire before one can develop a pyromantic flame. Sorcery can technically be learned by anyone smart enough to grasp the concepts, but a catalyst is needed in order to cast them, and I cannot spare mine."

Taking a breath, he continues, "Of course, _none_ of this takes aura into account, so any number of things can go wrong if the students cannot externalize their soul. Ergo, I cannot teach them _anything_ related to my skills currently, and likely will never be able to. I mean, I could try to teach them to fight through what they could normally endure, but the only methods I can currently think of involve beating them senseless."

"That isn't an option with you."

"I figured. Which begs the question, what can I teach them?"

"Hmm... you said you often faced large monsters in your travels, correct?"

"I did, why? I cannot teach them to fight demons. I have no demons to pit them against to test their abilities, and even if I did, very few would come out of those battles unscathed."

"You may not need demons. A few years ago, the SDC tried to invent a simulation pod that could be used to donate and later review memories. It didn't work as intended. Instead of viewing the memories, it would create a virtual reality that was based on the memories, similar but far more realistic to the simulation room we have here. It has since been repurposed to train soldiers. If we can convince Ironwood to let us borrow some, we could have them face the 'demons' as you did without the risks involved with actually fighting demons," Oobleck says.

"Will they be able to feel pain in these simulations? Call me callous if you will, but there's no point in teaching them to kill demons if they can't shrug off the first hit."

"You expect them to get hit?"

"I don't expect it, I guarantee it. Between a Capra demon's speed, a Taurus demon's sweeping strikes, and the fact that the demons inherently have ridiculous stamina and vitality compared to humans, it isn't a matter of _if_ they get hit, it is a manner of _when_. What _is_ a matter of if is whether or not they can manage to do anything _after_ getting hit. If they can't, then there is no point in teaching them, for they will not last long enough to matter."

"That kind of attitude will earn you a lot of ire, Ignis."

"The demons didn't care. The grimm _don't_ care. Better to live with scars then die with unmarred skin, especially considering humanity is already on the edge of the abyss when it comes to life or death."

"That's a rather bleak outlook. You really think that humanity is in such dire straights?" Oobleck asks.

"The grimm could wipe out all of the major cities in a single concerted attack. The only reason that humanity is still alive is because the grimm are born stupid and only learn through battle. If something were to direct them to attack with any semblance of tactics, there wouldn't be a surviving population large enough to replenish the entirety of humanity's numbers."

"You really believe that?"

"I believe it to be a possibility that is _far_ too great to ignore. If we cannot cull the grimm's numbers, then humanity is doomed to death, by stagnation if nothing else. And if the defenders cannot defend themselves, then how can they defend others?"

"That's rather depressing."

"Misery loves company, or so I recall hearing. Regardless, you haven't answered my question. Do the simulations simulate pain?"

"They can. Military training often starts with pain lowered in order to help the soldiers in question build up a resistance to it. I assume you would do the same?"

"Perhaps. It depends on how long the students would take the class. If they had enough time to ensure they could build up the resistance, then yes, I would do that. If not, I would simply leave the pain as realistic as possible. That way, they either learn to shrug off pain faster or not get hit so easily."

"You think that would work?"

"It did for me. Why not for them?"


	22. Chapter 22

The more Ignis researched what Oobleck called the 'Simpod', the more excited and reserved he became.

Excited, because he hadn't truly understood the concept behind it until he read up on it. While he could not use it to teach what _he_ learned to the kids who would take his class, it _could_ be used to make them go through the same scenarios he went through. In effect, it would teach them based more on their individual combat styles and adaptability. So long as they had the potential to grow, the simulation could make them grow, without risks...

Reserved, because it quite honestly sounded too good to be true. Knowing how humans were, they were just as likely to disregard the simulations lessons simply because there was no punishment for failure. While the simulated experience of death was hopefully enough to help them realize the gravity of their collective situation, Ignis wasn't sure that it would be enough to make them realize that they were risking life and death every mission they took, if they hadn't already. Further he doubted the veracity of the 'no risks' disclaimer. If they weren't at risk, then they weren't obligated to learn, and if they _were_ at risk... well, he hoped it wouldn't come to that.

**[LINE BREAK]**

"...And with that, the foul beast was slain!" Port exclaimed. Almost a second later, the bell rang, causing him to say, "That's all for today. Now remember, those of you who aren't traveling to Monument are to write a report on the anatomy of Creeps. Be sure to include sources for your information, and possible methods of killing them."

As everyone packed up and left, Port calls out, "Ignis, a word?"

Turning back, Ignis says, "Sure. Is something the matter?"

"I was just wondering why the grimm are so fixated with you. While I admit that the lessons in protection of non-combatants are beneficial, even funny, I can't help but wonder what it is that makes them pursue you so single-mindedly. Only the oldest of grimm behave like that, and only when someone has actively made its life miserable for an extended period of time.," Port answers.

With a sigh, Ignis says, "I actually expected you to ask that earlier. Why now?"

"Because it wasn't until last week that I had been able to cycle through all of the lesser grimm classes, and I spent the week since thinking of any number of reasons as to why this would be. I have nothing to go on."

Sighing again, Ignis says, "Very well. In effect, I did make their lives miserable. Originally, humanity was made from ash and Darkness. Ash was used to construct their, er, _our_ body, and the Dark Soul was split into a near infinite number of sprites that were then refined into the concept of humanity by the Furtive Pygmy, or so Seath's notes on humanity said. In effect, humanity was inherently Dark in constitution, and when the Dark became to powerful, the inherent Dark in humanity went rampant. In order to prevent this from ever happening again, I removed the Dark from humanity and replaced it with Light and Life."

Port looks confused for a moment before realization dawns on him. "Ah, so you're saying that the dark from humanity became the grimm?"

"Yes. This is why they dissipate when killed. This is why they have no need for sustenance. This is why they seek out and thrive off of the negative emotions of humanity. And this is why they hate me."

Port says, "I get what your saying, but I still don't understand why they would hate you."

At that, Ignis looks up before saying, "What, you do not doubt me? I admit, I'm surprised. If I hadn't known that I was removing the darkness from humanity and able to sense raw darkness, I admit that I likely wouldn't have made the connection, and I fully know that this sounds crazy."

Port laughs before saying, "I do believe that Glynda has had more than enough of you proving what you say is true. Besides, you don't strike me as the type to lie like this, or the type that is able to come up with bull shit like this on the fly."

"Aw, thanks for the vote of confidence. And _gee, thanks. Asshole._ In any case, they hate me because raw, solid humanity was formed from the Dark Soul. When I took the darkness from humanity, I was essentially ripping the soul out of the Dark. When the soulless Dark became the grimm, they likely knew that they had a soul at one point, and recognize that humanity contains that soul to some degree. As for them hating me, they may be capable of recognizing that I was the one that essentially took their soul from them."

Port considers this for a moment before saying, "Well, that certainly would explain a lot. I'm not saying that I doubt you, but can you prove any of this? If you could, this could very well lead to a lot of breakthroughs in grimm studies."

"Perhaps. I am capable of using several sorceries that utilize raw Dark. They all use soul energy though. Always have."

Chuckling a bit, Ignis continues, "Plays merry hell with the grimm, too. Never before have I seen a more amusing reaction to my techniques from an enemy. Poor beowolves looked _so_ confused. In any case, I'm unsure if I can prove this or not. While I know far more than most about their origins (if only due to my not insignificant role in said origins), I know precious little else."

"Then how have you been killing them in your travels through the Emerald and Foreverfall Forests?" Port asks.

"Gratuitous use of strength, endurance, and vitality, mostly. They might not tire as easily as humans do, but they rely on their inherently superior strength and stamina far too much. They lose a distinct advantage when the 'human' in question has enough stamina to fight for sometimes literal days at a time, to say nothing of being able to crush stone barehanded or shrug off a collapsed rib cage and subsequent organ damage."

"You can do that?" Port asks incredulously.

"All undead could, with the right amount of pain resistance and training. I'm not sure if I still can shrug off organ damage, but considering that the grimm can't actually get through my absurdly reinforced armor anyway, it's a moot point. Of course, this didn't take into account unlocked aura, so I may be even _harder_ to kill depending on how the healing process works. In any case, the point is that I kill them by simply being ridiculously awesome."

"And humble?" Port wryly comments.

"You kind of stop being humble when your so awesome that you kill an enemy by violently sneezing fire and lava-loogies on it, Port."

"Sounds like quite the tale, but my next class is beginning to arrive, so go on. Go sneeze on some more grimm while you're in Atlas."

**[LINE BREAK]**

"Are there any challenges for this class?" Goodwitch calls out at the beginning of the 'dueling' (_pfft_) class.

"I challenge Ignis!" a first year (whose name escapes Ignis) shouts.

"What? Oh, yeah, sure, whatever," Ignis replies, paying little attention to the class.

After a few seconds, Goodwitch says, "She means now, Ignis."

"Oh, right. Okay," Ignis says, getting up and pulling out a random greatsword and shield from his pouch. Making his way into the arena with what turn out to be a common Berenike Greatsword and a Silver Knight's Shield, he immediately recognizes his opponent.

"Didn't you challenge me last week? And the week before, for that matter?" he asks.

"Yes, and each time you wielded a different weapon and shield while wearing a different combat uniform," his opponent replies irritably. "What's the story behind those?"

"Why should I answer that? Why _would_ I answer that?" Ignis asks.

"Because it's rather unfair if I don't know what you're capable of?" his adversary answers sarcastically.

"All's fair in combat, where I come from. But since I'm such a nice person, I'll tell you. The sword was designed to cut big things into half-as-big things, and the shield is blessed to better protect against aura-based attacks and both fire and lightning based attacks."

"And the combat uniform?"

"My real armor is in need of professional repair and my secondary armor is too heavily reinforced for you to actually puncture and deal damage through. I've been cycling through my other, lighter armors to keep it as fair as I can."

Before the banter can continue, Goodwitch intervenes, saying, "If that will be all, thank you. Begin the fight."


End file.
